Alfred Edmund Brehm

“ Here, after perhaps many battles have been fought and rivals vanquished, the noble, full-dressed Black Cock takes his stand, commencing at the first dawn of day, and where game is abundant, the hill on every side repeats his humming call; he struts round the spots selected, trailing his wings, inflating his throat and neck, and puffing up the plumage of these parts and the now brilliant wattle above the eyes, raising and expanding his tail and displaying the beautifully contrasting white under tail-covers. ”

“ Alighting on the water, they swim to the beach, stand and gaze around them; the young full of joy, the old full of fear, for they are well aware that many foes have been waiting their arrival. All night the flock remains silent, but not inactive; they betake themselves with care to the grassy shores, where they allay the cravings of appetite, and recruit their wasted strength. ”

“ He who would describe a night in the desert should be, by the grace of God, a poet. For how can its beauty be described, even by one who has watched, revelled, and dreamed through it all? After the heat of the day it comes as the gentle, compensating, reconciling bestower of unspeakable comfort and inspiration, bringing peace and joy, for which a man longs as for his beloved who atones to him for his long waiting. “Leïla”, the starry night of the desert, Leïla is with justice the Arab’s image of all that is fair and joyous. ”

“ During the period of incubation the male bird perches upon a tree near his mate, and from thence delights her with his song of encouragement and sympathy. It is a real pleasure to listen to this pretty songster, as it inflates its throat and pours forth its lay, turning, as it sings, from one side to another, as though to bathe its glowing breast in the flood of bright sunlight. ”

“ At this moment all the beauty of the plumage is exhibited, and strikes the beholder with pleasure. It never utters any sound whilst on the wing, except during the love season; but at all other times no sooner has this bird alighted than its remarkable voice is heard at almost every leap that it makes whilst ascending against the upper parts of the trunk of a tree or its highest branches. ”

“ The yellow wagtails run about confidently on the meadow-like plots of grass around the outer margin of the thicket; that marvel of prettiness, the bearded titmouse, climbs fearlessly up and down on the reeds, whose tops are graced here by a redbreast and there by a gray shrike. From all sides the cheerful, though but slightly melodious song of the sedge-warblers strikes the ear, and we listen with pleasure to the lay of the black-throated thrush, to the lovely singing of the blue-throat, the wood-wren, and the icterine warbler, and to the call of the cuckoo. ”

“ When it has picked and thoroughly cleaned its feathers, elevating its tail and long shaft feathers, it raises the delicate plumage of a similar character to the sub-alar, forming a beautiful crest, and throwing up its feathers with much grace, appears as proud as a lady in her full ball dress. His prehensile power in the feet is very strong, and, still retaining his hold, the bird will turn himself round on his perch. He delights to be sheltered from the glare of the sun, as that luminary is a great source of annoyance to him if permitted to dart its fervid rays directly upon the cage. ”

“ The bird-fauna of the steppes is rich alike in species and in individuals. Wherever we wander we are sure to hear and see birds. From the densest forest of grasses resounds the loud call of a bustard; from the thickets by the water-courses is heard the trumpeting of the guinea-fowl or the loud cry of the francolin; from the trees comes a medley of sound—the cooing and moaning of the doves, the shouts and hammering of the woodpecker, the melodious call of the barbets, the simple music of various weaver-finches and thrush-like songsters. ”

“ When arrived before a thicket of these in full bloom, he poises or suspends himself on wing for the space of two or three seconds so steadily that his wings become invisible or only like a mist, and you can plainly distinguish the pupil of his eye looking round with great quickness and circumspection; the glossy golden green of his tail and the fire of his throat dazzling in the sun form altogether a most beautiful appearance. When he alights, which he frequently does, he always prefers the dry twigs of a tree or bush, where he dresses and arranges his plumage with great dexterity. ”

“ Who that has listened to the prolonged warblings of a linnet, the flood of melody poured forth from the little throat of the canary, the "lengthened sweetness long drawn out" which almost pains the enraptured ear as we listen to the song of the nightingale, but has wondered how such tiny birds can ever find sufficient breath for the utterance of such long-sustained, such interminable notes? What would our prima-donnas at the opera give for but the tithe of the capacity of these favoured little songsters? No human breast could ever hold sufficient breath for such performances. ”

“ I do not allude to the ptarmigan of our mountains, which is here also restricted to the glacier region, but to the much more abundant willow-grouse. Wherever the dwarf-birch thrives it is to be found, and it is always visible, but especially when the silence of night has fallen upon the tundra, even though the sun be shining overhead. It never entirely forsakes its haunts, but, at the most, descends from the heights to the low grounds in winter. It is lively and nimble, pert and self-possessed, jealous and quarrelsome towards its rivals, affectionate and devoted towards its mate and young. ”

“ Few sights that meet the eye of the traveller in the regions watered by the Nile are at once so striking and so splendid as that presented by a flock of these glowing creatures, as they dart in masses over the green fields of durrah, looking, when the sun sheds his rays upon them, like a multitude of aerial flames, appearing and disappearing almost with the rapidity of lightning, as they rise into the air or take refuge among the corn. ”

“ Whoever looks with a dull eye sees nothing but sandy plains and rocky cones, bare low grounds and naked hills, may even overlook the sparse reed-like grasses and shrubby trees of the deeper hollows, and the few animals which occur here and there. But he who really wishes to see can discover infinitely more. To the dull-eyed the desert is a land of horrors; they allow themselves to be so depressed by the glowing heat of the day that the blissfulness of the night brings them no comfort or strength; they ride into the desert trembling, and leave it shuddering ”

“ The weaker reindeer have been thrown down and trampled to death by their stronger fellows. A thousand sharp hoofs have crushed and cut through hide and flesh and bone. Ever swifter and more terrible in their motion, the ruthless herd has raced onward, careless of the slain, careless of food, careless of any drink but the sharp salt water ahead of them. And when at last the Laplanders reach the shore their deer are once more quietly grazing, once more tame and docile, once more ready to drag the sledge whithersoever they are guided. ”

“ Still we continue striving vainly to master the wealth of impressions, to separate one picture from another, to see any one tree from the ground to its top, to distinguish the leaves of one from those of another. From the stream it had been possible to distinguish some of the fresh green tamarinds from the mimosas of various species surrounding them, to recognize the magnificent kigelias, reminding us slightly of our own elms, to delight in the palm-crowns towering over the rest of the trees: here, in the depths of the forest, all the individual parts are fused into an inseparable whole. ”

“ For danger lends courage, and courage brings confidence, and the thunder of the waves becomes at length a lullaby to the wearied ear. And on the ensuing morning what an awakening! In the east the sky is suffused with red, the ancient giant-rocks wear a purple cloak on their shoulders, and shine in gleaming light, as if they were clad in burnished steel. Sunshine and shadow flit over the dark reefs and through the gullies filled with golden-yellow sand, and over all is thrown the marvellous, indescribably beautiful, colour-garment of the desert. ”