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LIBER X · CAPUT 39

THE BIRDS CALLED APODES, OR CYPSELI

THE BIRDS CALLED APODES, OR CYPSELI. Complete modern editorial illustration created specifically for this chapter.
THE BIRDS CALLED APODES, OR CYPSELI · EDITORIAL PLATE X.39 · modern editorial plate
THE BIRDS CALLED APODES, OR CYPSELI. Complete modern editorial illustration created specifically for this chapter.

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Plurimum volant quae apodes, quia careant usu pedum, ab aliis cypseli appellantur, hirundinum specie. nidificant in scopulis. hae sunt quae toto mari cernuntur, nec umquam tam longo naves tamque continuo cursu recedunt a terra, ut non circumvolitent eas apodes. cetera genera residunt et insistunt; his quies nisi in nido nulla: aut pendent aut iacent.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

Those birds which are known as “apodes” fly the most of all, because they are deprived of the use of their feet. By some persons they are called “cypseli.” They are a species of swallow which build their nests in the rocks, and are the same birds that are to be seen everywhere at sea; indeed, however far a ship may go, however long its voyage, and however great the distance from land, the apodes never cease to hover around it. Other birds settle and come to a stand, whereas these know no repose but in the nest; they are always either on the wing or else asleep.