And this leads me to another Thing remarkable in this Act of Migration; and that is, That those unthinking Creatures should know what Way to steer their Course[c] and whither to go. What but the great Creator’s Instinct should ever move a poor foolish Bird, to venture over vast Tracts of Land, but especially over large Seas? If it should be said, That by their high Ascents up into the Air, they can see cross the Seas; yet what should teach or persuade them, that that Land is more proper for their Purpose, than this? That Britain, (for Instance,) should afford them better Accommodations than Ægypt[d], than the Canaries, than Spain, or any of those many intermediate Places over which some of them probably fly.
And lastly, to all this, let us briefly add the Accommodations these Birds of Passage have, to enable them to take such long Flights, viz. the Length of their Wings, or their more than ordinary Strength[e] for Flight.
FOOTNOTES:
[a] Curiosa res est, scire, quàm exacte hoc genus avium, [Gruum] quontannis observet tempora sui reditûs ad nos. Anno 1667. primæ Grues comparuerunt in campestribus Pisæ 20 Feb. &c. F. Redi Exp. Nat. p. 100. ubi plura.
[] From יעד indixit, constituit, scil locum, vel tempus, ubi vel quando aliquid fieri debet. Buxt. in verb.
De voluntate suâ certiorem reddidit. Con. Kircher concordant. Pars. 1. Col. 1846. מועד Generaliter pro re aliguâ certà, artestatâ, & definitâ accipitur. 1. Pro tempore certo & constituto. 2. Deinde pro sesto seu Solennitate, quæ certo & stato tempore celebratur. 3. Pro loco certo constituto. Id. ibid. Col. 1847.
[c] Quis non cum admiratione videat ordinem & politiam peregrinantium Avium, in itinere, turmatim volantium, per longos terrarum & maris tractus absque Acu marinâ?——Quis eas certum iter in aëris mutabili regione docuit? Quis præteritæ signa, & futuræ viæ indicia; quis eas ducit, nutrit, & vitæ necessaria ministrat? Quis insulas & hospitia, illa, in quibus victum reperiant, indicavat; modumque ejusmodi loca in peregrinationibus suis inveniendi? Hæc sanè superant hominum captum & industriam, qui non nisi longis experientiis, multis itinerariis, chartis geographicis,——& acûs magneticæ beneficio,——ejusmodi marium & terrarum tractus conficere tentant & audent. Lud. de Beaufort. Cosmop. divina Sect. 5. c. 1.
[d] I instance particularly in Ægypt, because Mr. Willughby thinks Swallows fly thither, and into Æthiopia, &c. and that they do nor lurk in Holes, or under Water, as Olaus Magnus Reports. Vid. Ornith. L. 2. c. 3. But Etmuller puts the Matter out of doubt; who saith, Memini me plures, quàm quas Medimnus caperit, Hirundines arcte coacervatas intra Piscinæ cannas, sub glacie prorsus ad sensum exanimes pulsantes tamen, reperiisse. Etmuller Dissert. 2. c. 10. §. 5. This as it is like what Ol. Magnus saith, so is a Confirmation of it. The Archbishop’s Account is, In Septentrionalibus aquis sæpius casu Piscatoris extrahuntur Hirundines, in modum conglemeratæ massæ, quæ ore ad os, & alâ ad alam, & pede ad pedem post principium autumni sese inter cannas descensuræ colligârunt.——Massa autem illa per imperitos adolescentes——extracta, atque in æstuaria portata, caloris accessu Hirundines resolutæ, volare quidem incipiunt, sed exiguo tempore durant. Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 19. c. 20.
Since my penning this Note, we had, at a Meeting of the Royal-Society, Feb. 12. 1712-13. a farther Confirmation of Swallows retiring under Water in Winter, from Dr. Golas, a Person very curious in these Matters; who speaking of their Way of Fishing in the northern Parts, by breaking Holes, and drawing their Nets under the Ice, saith, that he saw sixteen Swallows so drawn out of the Lake of Samrodt, and about Thirty out of the King’s great Pond in Rosineilen; and that at Schlebitten, near an House of the Earl of Dohna, he saw two Swallows just come out of the Waters, that could scarce stand, being very wet and weak, with their Wings hanging on the Ground: And that he hath observ’d the Swallows to be often weak for some Days after their Appearance.
[e] As Swallows are well accommodated for long Flights, by their long Wings, so are Quails by the Strength of their pectoral Muscles, by the Breadth of their Wings, &c. For Quails have but short Wings for the Weight of their Body; and yet they fly from us into warmer Parts, against Winter, and to us in Spring, crossing our Seas. So divers Travellers tell us they cross the Mediterranean twice a Year, flying from Europe to Africa, and back again: Thus Bellonius in Mr. Willughby, saith, When we sail’d from Rhodes to Alexandria of Ægypt, many Quails flying from the North towards the South, were taken in our Ship; whence I am verily persuaded, that they shift Places: For formerly also, when I sail’d out of the Isle of Zant to Morea, or Negropont, in the Spring Time, I had observ’d Quails flying the contrary Way, from South to North, that they might abide there all Summer. At which Time also, there were a great many taken in our Ship. Ornith. p. 170.