Chapter XII.

1. The habitations of wild birds are contrived with relation to their mode of life and the preservation of their young. Some of them are kind to their young and careful of them: others are of a different disposition. Some manage well in their mode of life: others do not. Some dwell in clefts, and holes, and in rocks, as the birds called charadrius. This bird is faulty both in its colours and its voice. It appears during the night, and escapes in the day time.

2. The hawk also builds in precipitous places; and although it is carnivorous, it does not devour the heart of the bird it has killed. Some have observed this with respect to the quail and thrush, and others with other birds. There is also a change in their mode of hunting their prey, for they do not seize them in the same way in summer and in winter. It is said that no one has ever seen the young or the nest of the carrion vulture. Wherefore Herodorus, the father of Brison the sophist, says that they come from some distant elevated land, using this proof, that many of them appear suddenly, but where they come from is not intelligible to any one. The reason is this, they make their nest in inaccessible rocks, and the bird is not an inhabitant of many countries. It produces one egg or two at the most.

3. Some birds dwell in mountains and in woods, as the hoopoe and brenthus. This bird has a good habit of life and a good voice. The trochilus dwells in thickets and holes. It is taken with difficulty, for it is swift in flight, and its disposition is weak; but its mode of life is good, and it is artful. It is also called presbys and basileus. Wherefore also they say that it fights with the eagle.