Birds of prey, as has been already stated, may in a general
way be said never to drink at all, though Hesiod appears to have
been ignorant of the fact, for in his story about the siege of Ninus
he represents the eagle that presided over the auguries as in the
act of drinking; all other birds drink, but drink sparingly, as is the
case also with all other spongy-lunged oviparous animals. Sickness
in birds may be diagnosed from their plumage, which is ruffled when
they are sickly instead of lying smooth as when they are well.
19
The majority of fishes, as has been stated, thrive best in rainy
seasons. Not only have they food in greater abundance at this time,
but in a general way rain is wholesome for them just as it is for
vegetation-for, by the way, kitchen vegetables, though artificially
watered, derive benefit from rain; and the same remark applies even to
reeds that grow in marshes, as they hardly grow at all without a
rainfall. That rain is good for fishes may be inferred from the fact
that most fishes migrate to the Euxine for the summer; for owing to
the number of the rivers that discharge into this sea its water is
exceptionally fresh, and the rivers bring down a large supply of food.
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