In winter they move from the outer sea
in towards land in quest of heat; in summer they shift from shallow
waters to the deep sea to escape the heat.
Weakly birds in winter and in frosty weather come down to the
plains for warmth, and in summer migrate to the hills for coolness.
The more weakly an animal is the greater hurry will it be in to
migrate on account of extremes of temperature, either hot or cold;
thus the mackerel migrates in advance of the tunnies, and the quail in
advance of the cranes. The former migrates in the month of Boedromion,
and the latter in the month of Maemacterion. All creatures are
fatter in migrating from cold to heat than in migrating from heat to
cold; thus the quail is fatter when he emigrates in autumn than when
he arrives in spring. The migration from cold countries is
contemporaneous with the close of the hot season. Animals are in
better trim for breeding purposes in spring-time, when they change
from hot to cool lands.
Of birds, the crane, as has been said, migrates from one end of
the world to the other; they fly against the wind. The story told
about the stone is untrue: to wit, that the bird, so the story goes,
carries in its inside a stone by way of ballast, and that the stone
when vomited up is a touchstone for gold.
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