Alexander Wilson | 1766-1813 | American Ornithology
“This has been the most arduous, expensive, and fatiguing, expedition I ever undertook. I have, however, gained my point in procuring two hundred and fifty subscribers, in all, for my Ornithology; and a great mass of information respecting the birds that winter in the southern states, and some that never visit the middle states”
On Humming Birds | As reported in 1693
“Who can but admire to see the whole Body, and all the parts of a Bird folded up in an Egg, little bigger than a Pepper-Corn ? They feed by thrusting their Bill and Tongue into the blossoms of Trees, and so suck the sweet Juice of Honey from them ; and when he sucks he sits not, but bears up his Body with a hovering Motion of his Wings : But for the relation that he is a curious singing Bird, I think it untrue.”
When Birds Migrated to the Moon | The MIT Press Reader
“There were many factors that led to the recognition that birds migrate to other continents rather than the moon, but one which is pretty astonishing came about in 1882 in Mecklenburg, Germany. Someone shot a white stork, and when it fell, they saw that the stork had survived a previous attempt on its life.”