8

But there is a hydrus in the river, having the form of a dog, which happens to be an enemy of the crocodile, and kills it while it sleeps. For the crocodile sleeps having opened its mouth; and the hydrus, enclosing herself in mud [φ. ἐγκυλίσασα], leaps into its mouth, and eating up all its insides, kills it. The crocodile is at once a beast and a fish, and large from head to tail; but it does not have a width proportional to its length. Its hide happens to be a wrinkled scale, and the color of its back resembles a black rock, but its belly a white one. And it has four feet, gently curving to the side; like a land tortoise, a long and thick tail; for it is the end of a single backbone. And it is notched above into spines, and they are like the points of saws, and it strikes with it against whomever it might wrestle. It has one head woven together with its back, and aligned in one straight line; and as long as it has not gaped, it is the head of a beast; but if it should gape, it becomes all mouth, making the chasm up to its shoulders. The so-called hippopotamus has the feet and belly of a horse, but its hoof is cloven like a claw, a thick tail bare of hair, because its whole body is also this way, a round head slightly different from the cheek of a horse, and it has a gaping nostril, breathing fiery smoke, as from a furnace, a wide jaw; for it opens its mouth up to its temples. Inside it is densely packed with teeth in three ways, having in addition to these two curved teeth like a boar's. And it is entirely most gluttonous, making standing grain its food. It is hunted by such a trick. They watch for its haunts, and make a pit, and cover it with reeds, and heap sand upon it, and they set up a wooden chamber below having its doors opened into the roof of the 728 pit; and stepping on it the beast falls in unsuspectingly, and is shut up in the chamber, being carried down. And the hunters immediately shut it in. Second. .... The beast has the size of an ox. And in fish there exists much internal heat, and it is sharp; for this reason they digest more quickly what they eat, the food immediately decaying in their belly. But the sea fox, whenever it is unable to escape being caught, having swallowed the hook, leaping out and running up, gnaws off the line, and escapes. The crocodile is a man-eating beast, but when it is about to mate, swimming up it turns the female over on the banks; for this is the only one that is accustomed to mate on its back, and after intercourse, lifting her again with its hands, it turns her back over; but whenever it perceives that she has been with another, it pretends to mate with her, and having turned her over in the same way it knows by the smell (for it has a very keen sense in this regard) that she has been defiled by another, and tearing open her belly with its claws, it eats all her insides. For the animal is soft around the belly; for its back is clothed with sturdy scales, so that even the sharpest iron brought against it is blunted. Let the waters bring forth winged living souls, and at once the air has been filled with every kind of bird. And He gave them their origin from the waters, since they have inherited a certain kinship with fish. For as fish cut the water with the movement of their fins, and swim through it, so winged creatures swim through the air with their wings. And some of them are carnivorous, possessing a constitution suitable for the manner of their diet, with the points of claws, and a hooked beak, and a swift wing so as to be able to snatch up easily, and to tear apart; others are seed-gatherers, and others feed on anything. And the constitution of each of these differs; and some are without a leader and independent, while others are arranged under a leader, and some are migratory, while others are native. The rooster is proud, but the hawk is most well-disposed

8

Ὕδρις δὲ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ, μορφὴν ἔχουσα κυνὸς, ἥτις τοῦ κροκοδείλου ἐχθρὰ τυγχάνει, καὶ ἀναιρεῖ τοῦτον καθεύδοντα. Τὸ γὰρ στόμα ἑαυτοῦ διανοίξας ὁ κροκόδειλος καθεύδει· καὶ ἡ ὕδρις, εἰς πηλὸν ἑαυτὴν ἐγκωλύσασα [φ. ἐγκυλίσασα], εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ εἰσπηδᾷ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ κατεσθίουσα ἀναιρεῖ αὐτόν. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ κροκόδειλος θηρίον ὁμοῦ καὶ ἰχθὺς, καὶ μέγα ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς ἄχρι οὐρᾶς· οὐ μὲν ἔχει τὸ πλάτος τοῦ μεγέθους ἀνάλογον. Ἡ δὲ δορὰ αὐτοῦ λεπὶς τυγχάνει ῥυτὴ, καὶ ἡ χροιὰ τοῦ νώτου αὐτοῦ πέτρᾳ μελαίνῃ ἔοικεν, ἡ δὲ γαστὴρ λευκῇ. Πόδες δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰσὶ τέσσαρες, εἰς τὸ πλάγιον ἠρέμα κυρτούμενοι· καθὼς τῆς χερσαίας χελώνης, οὐρὰ μακρὰ καὶ παχεῖα· τῆς ῥάχεως γάρ ἐστιν ἑνὸς ὀστέου τελευτή. Ἐντέτμηται δὲ ἄνωθεν εἰς ἀκάνθας, καὶ εἰσὶν ὡσεὶ τῶν πριόνων ἀκμαὶ, καὶ τύπτει ἐν αὐτῇ πρὸς οὓς ἂν παλαίῃ. Μία δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐστὶ κεφαλὴ τοῖς νώτοις συνυφαινομένη, καὶ εἰς μίαν ἰθυνομένη στάθμην· καὶ ἐφ' ὅσον οὐ κέχηνε, θηρίου ἐστὶ κεφαλή· ἐὰν δὲ χάνῃ, ὅλον στόμα γίνεται, μέχρι τῶν ὤμων τὸ χάσμα ποιοῦσα. Ὁ δὲ λεγόμενος ἱπποπόταμος ἵππου μὲν τοὺς πόδας ἔχει καὶ τὴν γαστέρα, τὴν δὲ ὁπλὴν σχιστὴν ὡς χηλὴν, οὐρὰν παχεῖαν καὶ ψιλὴν τριχῶν, ὅτι καὶ τὸ πᾶν τοῦ σώματος οὕτως ἕχει, κεφαλὴν περιφερῆ μικρὸν τῆς ἵππου παρειᾶς διάφορον, καὶ ἔχει κεχηνότα τὸν μυκτῆρα, πυρώδη καπνὸν, ὡς ἐκ καμίνου, πνέοντα, γένυν πλατεῖαν· μέχρι γὰρ τῶν κροτάφων ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα. Ὀδοῦσι δὲ ἔνδον τριχῶς πεπύκνωται, ἔχων πρὸς τούτοις δύο ὀδόντας ἐπικαμπεῖς ὡς συός. Καὶ ἔστιν ἀδδηφαγώτατον ὅλον, λήϊον ποιοῦν τροφήν. Ἀπάτῃ δὲ θηρᾶται τοιαύτῃ. Ἐπιτηροῦσιν αὐτοῦ τὰς διατριβὰς, καὶ ὄρυγμα ποιοῦσι, καὶ καλάμῃ αὐτὸ στεγάζουσι, καὶ ἐπιχωννύουσι ψάμμῳ, καὶ ξύλινον ἱστῶσι κάτωθεν οἴκημα ἔχον ἀνεῳγμένας τὰς θύρας εἰς τὸν ὄροφον τοῦ βό 728 θρου· καὶ ἐπιβὰς ὁ θὴρ ἀφελῶς ἐμπίπτει, καὶ εἰς τὸ οἴκημα κατακλείεται φερόμενος κάτω. Καὶ οἱ θηρευταὶ εὐθὺς ἀποκλείουσι. ∆εύτερον. .... βοὸς δὲ ἔχει τὸ θηρίον τὸ μέγεθος. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἰχθύσι πολλή τις ἐνυπάρχει θέρμη ἔνδοθεν, καὶ ὀξεῖα· διὸ καὶ θᾶττον καταπέπτουσιν, ἃ ἐσθίουσιν, εὐθέως διασηπομένων τῶν ἐδωδίμων ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ αὐτῶν. Ἡ δὲ θαλαττιαῖος ἀλώπηξ, ἐπὰν μὴ δύνηται διαδράσαι τὴν ἄγραν, καταπιοῦσα τὸ ἄγχιστρον, ἐξαλλομένη καὶ ἀνατρέχουσα, ἀποτρώγει τὴν μήρινθον, καὶ διαφεύγει. Ὁ δὲ κροκόδειλος ἀνθρωποβόρον μέν ἐστι θηρίον, ὅταν δὲ μέλλῃ ποιεῖσθαι τὰς ὀχείας, ἀνανηξάμενον ἀναστρέφει τὴν θήλειαν ἐπὶ ταῖς ὄχθαις· μόνος γὰρ οὗτος ὕπτιος πλησιάζειν πέφυκε, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ὁμιλίαν πάλιν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτὴν ἐπικουφίζων συνεπιστρέφει· ἐπειδὰν δὲ αὐτὴν ἄλλῳ συγγενομένην αἴσθηται, καθυποκρίνεται συμμιγῆναι αὐτῇ, καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ ἀναστρέψας αὐτὴν γινώσκει διὰ τῆς ὀδμῆς (ἔχει γὰρ ὀξυτάτην περὶ τοῦτο τὴν αἴσθησιν) ὑφ' ἑτέρου μιανθεῖσαν αὐτὴν, καὶ τοῖς ὄνυξι διαῤῥήξας τὴν γαστέρα αὐτῆς, πάντα τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτῆς κατεσθίει. Περὶ γὰρ τὴν γαστέρα ἐστὶ τρυφερὸν τὸ ζῶον· ὁ γὰρ νῶτος αὐτοῦ στιβαραῖς λεπίσιν ἐνδέδυται, ὥστε καὶ τὸν ὀξύτατον σίδηρον ἐπενεχθέντα ἀμβλύνεσθαι. Ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα πετεινὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν, καὶ ἀθρόως ὁ ἀὴρ παντοίου γένους τῶν ὀρνίθων πεπλήρωται. Ἔδωκε δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν γένεσιν, ἐπειδὴ συγγένειάν τινα πρὸς τοὺς ἰχθύας κεκλήρωνται. Ὡς γὰρ οἱ ἰχθύες ἐν τῇ κινήσει τῶν πτερύγων τὸ ὕδωρ τέμνουσι, καὶ διανήχονται, οὕτω τὰ πετεινὰ τοῖς πτεροῖς τὸν ἀέρα διανήχονται. Ἔστι δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ μὲν σαρκοφάγα πρέπουσαν κατασκευὴν τοῦ τρόπου τῆς σφῶν διαίτης ἐπέχοντα, ὀνύχων ἀκμαῖς, καὶ χεῖλος ἀγγύλον, καὶ πτερὸν ὀξὺ πρὸς τὸ ῥᾳδίως ἀναρπάσαι, καὶ διασπάσαι δύνασθαι· τὰ δὲ σπερμολόγα, τὰ δὲ ἐκ παντὸς τρεφόμενα. Καὶ τούτων ἑκατέρων ἡ κατασκευὴ διενήνοχε· καὶ τὰ μέν ἐστιν ἄναρχα καὶ αὐτόνομα, τὰ δὲ ὑφ' ἡγεμόνα τέτακται, καὶ τὰ μέν ἐστιν ἐπιδημητικὰ, τὰ δὲ ἐγχώρια. Γαῦρον ὁ ἀλεκτρυὼν, ὁ δὲ ἱέραξ εὐνούστατος