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is sent away with its wings, through the food, as they say, the troublesome one. But the sea-eagle, having received the rejected one, rears it together with its own chicks. And when the eagle has raised the chick, it flies up with it, taking it towards the upper air; and if it should see it gazing sharply at the brilliance of the sun, and swimming boldly through the air, it claims it as its own; but if it is weak towards these things, it casts it out as illegitimate. For they say that when the eagle has grown old its eyes grow dim, and its wings grow heavy, and it comes to a spring, and flying up into the upper air, its wings are burned by the sun, and it recovers its sight, then immediately descending to the spring it is baptized three times, and is renewed; wherefore they say the psalm also says: Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s. The vulture has its offspring from the wind, and knows no union with a male, and lives for a hundred years. It dwells on high and lofty places, and no one knows where it makes its home. And when it becomes pregnant, it goes to India, and having taken the so-called birth-stone, it sits upon it, being seized with birth-pains, and gives birth. The stone is round like a nut, and when shaken sends forth a sound like a bell, from another stone moving within. And they say that the vulture dies if anointed with rose perfume; but that seeds do not harm it, nor does it destroy any living thing, and it does not approach a dead bird because of kinship. But when, they say, men are drawn up for battle, it follows them, and does not depart, being a flesh-eater. The storks both arrive at one signal, and depart at one. And the crows escort them, and, as is likely, are allied with them against certain enemy birds; for they return wounded. And if a stork grows old, it moults its feathers, and its children, standing around it, warm it with their own wings, and provide food abundantly; and in flight they support it from underneath, and with their own wings gently lighten its load from either side. The cranes all fly together equally, but one leads them, and having led for a certain fixed time, moving around to the back, it hands over 733 the leadership of the way to the one after it. And while they sleep, one goes around all of them, keeping them safe; and when it has completed the sufficient measure of the interval and cries out, it turns to sleep, and another in turn takes over such service. The race of geese is wakeful and sharp of hearing, quickly perceiving the approach of those simply drawing near, or the attack of plotters. Thus, at any rate, when certain enemies were entering by tunnels and were about to capture the great city of Rome, these saved it by the natural sharpness of their sense, by their sudden cry delivering the plotters to the guards. The kingfisher is a sea bird, and it nests beside the shores of the sea, in the middle of winter. Therefore when it broods, the winds are lulled to sleep, and the sea has a steady calm, for up to seven days, whereas before strong winds were troubling the sea. Therefore when it hatches the chicks, again for another seven days, God provides a calm, until it rears the chicks. The partridge is deceitful, and jealous, and malevolent, cooperating with the hunters for the hunt. And stealing others' eggs it makes a brood, and when the chicks have grown, each according to its kind flies up to its own, and they leave it desolate. The dove is lustful. There is a tree in India called peridexion, bearing sweet fruits, and the doves delight in this, and they roost upon it. The serpent is an enemy of the dove, and fearing the tree it does not approach; for to whatever part of the tree the shadow falls, the serpent flees in fear. But the doves to the slope

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πτεροῖς ἀποπέμπεται, διὰ τῆς τροφῆς, ὡς φασὶ, τὸ ἐπίπονον. Ἡ δὲ φήνη, τὸν ἀποποιηθέντα δεξαμένη, τοῖς οἰκείοις ἅμα ἐκτρέφει νεοσσοῖς. Θρέψας δὲ τὸν νεοττὸν ὁ ἀετὸς, συνίπταται, αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν αἰθέρα λαμβάνων· καὶ εἰ θεάσοιτο πρὸς τὴν λαμπρότητα τοῦ ἡλίου αὐτὸν ὀξυοπήσαντα, καὶ εὐτόλμως τὸν ἀέρα διανηχόμενον, ὡς οἰκεῖον περιποιεῖται· εἰ δὲ ἄτονον πρὸς ταῦτα, ὡς νόθον ἀποβάλλει. Φασὶ γὰρ γηράσαντα τὸν ἀετὸν ἀμαυροῦσθαι τὰς ὄψεις, καὶ βαρεῖσθαι αὐτοῦ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ εἰς πηγὴν ἀφικνεῖσθαι, καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα ἀνιπτάμενον, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου τὰς πτέρυγας καταφλέγεσθαι, καὶ ἀναβλέπειν, εἶτ' εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὴν πηγὴν καταβάντα τρίτον βαπτίζεσθαι, καὶ ἀνανεοῦσθαι· διὸ καὶ τὸν ψαλμὸν φάσκειν φασίν· Ἀνακαινισθήσεται ὡς ἀετοῦ ἡ νεότης σου. Ὁ δὲ γὺψ ὑπηνέμιον τὴν γονὴν κέκτηται, καὶ οὐ γινώσκει συνουσίαν ἄῤῥενος, καὶ ἐκατὸν τὰ ἕτη βιοῖ. Αὐλίζεται δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ὑψηλῶν, καὶ μετεώρων, καὶ οὐδεὶς οἶδε ποῦ ποιεῖ τὴν κατοίκησιν. Καὶ ἔγγυος γενόμενος πορεύεται εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικὴν, καὶ λαβὼν τὸν εὐτόκιον λίθον οὕτω καλούμενον, ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ καθέζεται συνεχόμενος ὠδῖσι, καὶ ἀποτίκτει. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ λίθος περιφερὴς ὡς κάρυον, καὶ κινούμενος ἦχον ἐκπέμπει ὡς κώδων, ἔνδοθεν ἑτέρου λίθου κινουμένου. Φασὶ δὲ τὸν γῦπα τὰ ῥόδινα μύρα χρισθέντα ἀποθνήσκειν· σπέρματα δὲ μὴ βλάπτειν αὐτὸν, μηδέ τι ἔμψυχον διαλυμαίνεσθαι, καὶ μηδὲ νεκρῷ προσέρχεσθαι πετεινῷ διὰ τὴν συγγένειαν. Ἡνίκα δὲ, φασὶν, ἄνδρες εἰς πόλεμον παρατάσσονται, ἐπακολουθεῖ αὐτοῖς, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίσταται, σαρκοβόρος ὤν. Οἱ δὲ πελαργοὶ καὶ ἑνὶ ἐπιδημοῦσι συνθήματι, καὶ ἑνὶ ἀπαίρουσι. Προπέμπουσί τε αὐτοὺς αἱ κορῶναι, καὶ, ὡς εἰκὸς, συμμαχοῦσιν αὐτοῖς πρός τινας πολεμίους ὄρνιθας· τετραυματισμέναι γὰρ ἐπανέρχονται. Ἐὰν δὲ γηράσῃ ὁ πελαργὸς, πτεροῤῥυεῖ, καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ περιστάντα τοῖς οἰκείοις πτεροῖς περιθάλπουσι, καὶ τὰς τροφὰς ἀφθόνως παρέχουσιν· ἐν δὲ τῇ πτήσει ὑποκάτωθεν αὐτὸν ὑποβαστάζουσι, καὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις πτεροῖς ἠρέμα αὐτὸν ὑποκουφίζουσιν ἑκατέρωθεν. Αἱ δὲ γέρανοι ὁμοῦ πᾶσαι ἐξ ἴσου ἵπτανται, μία δὲ προηγεῖται αὐτῶν, καὶ τακτόν τινα χρόνον προηγησαμένη εἰς τὸ κατόπιν περιελθοῦσα τῇ μετ' αὑτὴν 733 τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῆς ὁδοῦ παραδίδωσιν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ καθεύδειν ἡ μία ὅλας περιέρχεται ἀσφαλιζομένη· καὶ ἐπειδὰν τὸ μέτρον τὸ ἀρκοῦν τοῦ διαστήματος πληρώσασα βοήσῃ, πρὸς ὕπνον τρέπεται, καὶ ἄλλη πάλιν διαδέχεται τὴν τοιαύτην ὑπηρεσίαν. Τὸ δὲ τῶν χηνῶν γένος ὑπάρχει ἄγρυπνον, καὶ ὀξυήκοον ταχέως τῶν προσιόντων ἁπλῶς, ἢ τῶν ἐπιβούλων τὴν ἔφοδον αἰσθανομένη. Οὕτως γοῦν πολεμίων τινῶν δι' ὑπονόμων ὑποδύντων, καὶ μελλόντων χειροῦσθαι Ῥώμην τὴν μεγαλόπολιν, οὗτοι τῇ φυσικῇ ὀξύτητι τῆς αἰσθήσεως περιεσώσαντο, τῇ ἀθρόᾳ φωνῇ παραδόντες τοὺς ἐπιβούλους τοῖς φύλαξιν. Ἀλκυών ἐστι θαλάττιον ὄρνεον, καὶ παρὰ τοὺς τῆς θαλάττης νοσσεύει αἰγιαλοὺς, τοῦ χειμῶνος μεσάζοντος. Ὅταν οὖν ἐπωάζηται, οἱ μὲν ἄνεμοι κοιμίζονται, ἡ δὲ θάλαττα γαλήνην ἔχει σταθερὰν, ἄχρις ἡμερῶν ἑπτὰ, τὸ πρὶν ἀνέμων σφοδρῶν ταραττόντων τὴν θάλατταν. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν περιγλύψῃ τοὺς νεοττοὺς πάλιν ἄλλας ἐπτὰ ἡμέρας, ὁ Θεὸς νηνεμίαν παρέχεται, ἕως ἐκθρέψῃ τοὺς νεοττούς. ∆ολερὸν ὁ πέρδιξ, καὶ ζηλότυπον, καὶ κακοῦργον, συμπράττων τοῖς θηρευταῖς πρὸς τὴν ἄγραν. Ἀλλότρια δὲ κλέπτων ὠὰ νοσσοποιεῖ, καὶ αὐξηθέντες οἱ νεοττοὶ, ἕκαστος κατὰ γένος πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους ἀνίπταται, καὶ ἕρημον αὐτὸν καταλιμπάνουσιν. Λάγνον περιστερά. Ἔστι δὲ δένδρον ἐν τῇ Ἰνδικῇ καλούμενον περιδέξιον, γλυκεῖς φέρον καρποὺς, καὶ τούτῳ αἱ περιστεραὶ τέρπονται, καὶ κατασκηνοῦσιν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ δράκων ἐχθρὸς τῆς περιστερᾶς, καὶ δεδοικὼς τὸ δένδρον οὐκ ἐπέρχεται· εἰς οἶον γὰρ μέρος τοῦ δένδρου ἡ σκιὰ γένηται, ὁ δράκων φεύγει φοβούμενος. Αἱ δὲ περιστεραὶ εἰς τὸ κλίτος