11
Of wild birds, the nests are fashioned to meet the exigencies of
existence and ensure the security of the young. Some of these birds
are fond of their young and take great care of them, others are
quite the reverse; some are clever in procuring subsistence, others
are not so. Some of these birds build in ravines and clefts, and on
cliffs, as, for instance, the so-called charadrius, or stone-curlew;
this bird is in no way noteworthy for plumage or voice; it makes an
appearance at night, but in the daytime keeps out of sight.
The hawk also builds in inaccessible places. Although a ravenous
bird, it will never eat the heart of any bird it catches; this has
been observed in the case of the quail, the thrush, and other birds.
They modify betimes their method of hunting, for in summer they do not
grab their prey as they do at other seasons.
Of the vulture, it is said that no one has ever seen either
its young or its nest; on this account and on the ground that all of a
sudden great numbers of them will appear without any one being able to
tell from whence they come, Herodorus, the father of Bryson the
sophist, says that it belongs to some distant and elevated land.
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