Читать книгу Migration of Birds онлайн

6 страница из 25

In spite of the keen perception shown in some of his statements Aristotle also must be credited with the origin of some superstitious beliefs that persisted for several centuries. One of these, that of hibernation, became so firmly rooted that Dr. Elliott Coues (1878),ssss1 one of America's greatest ornithologists, listed the titles of no less than 182 papers dealing with the hibernation of swallows. The hibernation theory accounted for the autumnal disappearance of certain species of birds by having them pass into a torpid state and so remain during the cold season, hidden in hollow trees, caves, or in the mud of marshes. Aristotle ascribed hibernation not only to swallows, but also to storks, kites, doves, and others. Some early naturalists wrote fantastic accounts of the flocks of swallows that allegedly were seen congregating in the marshes until their accumulated weight bent into the water the reeds on which they clung and thus submerged the birds. It was even recorded that when fishermen in northern waters drew up their nets they sometimes had a mixed "catch" of fish and hibernating swallows. Clarke (1912) quotes Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, who in 1555 published a work entitled "Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalis et Natura," wherein he observed that if swallows so caught were taken into a warm room they would soon begin to fly about but would live only a short time.