It is said to be the only one of animals that moves its upper jaw. The hippopotamus is so named because it is like a horse (hippos) in back, mane, and neigh, with an upturned snout, boar-like teeth, and a twisted tail. By day it lingers in the waters, by night it feeds on the crops: and the Nile produces it. The 'pagrus,' which the Greeks call 'phagron,' is so named because it has hard teeth, so much so that it is nourished on oysters in the sea. The 'dentix' is named for the multitude and size of its teeth (dentes). The 'lepus' (sea-hare) is named from the likeness of its head. The 'lupus' (bass), as has been said, greed named, a fish ingenious in the catch: for finally, when surrounded by the net, it is said to plow the sands with its tail, and thus, hidden, to pass through the net. The 'mullus' (red mullet) is so called because it is soft (mollis) and very tender.
They relate that by eating it lust is checked, but the keenness of the eyes is dulled: and men who often feed on it smell of the fish. When a mullet is killed in wine, those who drink of it thereafter have an aversion to wine. The mullet (mugilis) has its name because it is very agile (multum agilis). For when it senses the snares of fishermen set out, immediately returning backward it so leaps over the net that you would see the fish fly. The 'melanurus' is so called because it has a black tail and black fins and black lines on its body; for the Greeks call black 'melan.' The 'glaucus' is named from its color, because it is white; for the Greeks call white 'glaukon.' It rarely appears in summer, except only in cloudy weather. The 'thymallus' (grayling) took its name from the flower: for 'thymum' (thyme) is called a flower:
for while it is pleasing in appearance and delightful in taste, yet like a flower it is fragrant and its body breathes forth scents. The 'escarus' (parrot-fish) is so called because it alone is said to ruminate its food (esca): for the other fishes do not ruminate. They relate, moreover, that it is ingenious; for shut up in wicker traps it does not burst out with its brow, nor thrust its head into the hostile withes, but turned away it loosens the doors by frequent blows of its tail, and thus returns backward; and if perchance another parrot-fish outside sees its struggle, seizing its tail with a bite it strives to help the one bursting out. The 'sparus' (gilthead) drew its name from the lance, a missile, because it is of the same shape. For land things were discovered before those of the sea. For the 'sparus' is a rustic missile weapon, named from scattering (spargere).
The southern fish (australis piscis) is so called either because it takes in the wave of the waters with its mouth, or because this fish appears at the time when the Pleiades begin to sink toward the west. The rock-fish is marked on its right and its left flanks by hooked, continuous crimson stripes and by others of different colors; it is called 'hamio' because it is caught only with a hook (hamus). The echeneis, a small fish only half a foot long, took its name from the fact that it holds back a ship by clinging to it. Though the winds may rush and the storms may rage, the ship nonetheless seems to stand as though rooted in the sea and not to be moved, the fish holding it not by restraining but merely by clinging. The Latins called this fish the 'delay' (mora), because it forces vessels to stand still. The uranoscopus is named from the eye it has on the top of its head, from which it is always gazing upward.
The flying gurnard (millago) is so named because it flies above the water. And as often as it is seen flitting outside the water, the weather is about to change. The squatus (angel-shark) is so called because it is sharp with scales; hence too wood is polished with its skin. The city of Syria which is now called Tyre was formerly named Sarra, from a certain fish which abounds there, which they call 'sar' in their own tongue; from this it is derived that little fish of this same kind are called sarda and sardine. The allec is a little fish suitable for the brine of salted preparations; hence too its name. The aphorus is a little fish which, on account of its smallness, cannot be caught with a hook. The eel (anguilla) got its name from its resemblance to a snake (anguis). Its origin is from mud; hence too, when it is caught, it is so slippery that the more firmly you press it, the more quickly it slides away.
They report that the Ganges, a river of the East, breeds eels thirty feet long. When eels have been killed in wine, those who drink of that wine come to loathe wine. The sea-dragon (draco marinus) has spines in its gills pointing toward the tail, and when it strikes, wherever it wounds it pours out venom; hence too its name. The Greeks call the lamprey 'muraina,' because it coils itself into circles. They report that this creature is only of the female sex and conceives from a serpent; on this account it is summoned by fishermen with a hiss, as if from a serpent, and so is caught. It is killed only with difficulty by a blow of a cudgel, but at once by a fennel-stalk. It is certain that it has its life in its tail; for when its head is struck it can scarcely be killed, but by a blow to the tail it is instantly deprived of life. The conger. The octopus (polypus), that is, 'many-footed,' for it has very many folds.
This creature, being cunning, when it seeks a hook embraces it with its arms, not with a bite, and does not let it go until it has gnawed all around the bait. The torpedo (electric ray) is so called because it makes the body grow numb (torpescere), if anyone touches it while alive. Pliny the Second relates (Natural History 32.7): 'From the Indian sea the torpedo, even from afar and at a distance, or if it be touched with a spear or a rod, makes even the strongest arms grow numb, and binds fast the feet however swift for running.' For so great is its power that it affects the limbs even with the mere emanation of its body. The cuttlefish (sepia) is so called because, when hemmed in by enclosures (sepes), it is more easily caught; in mating it is an obscene kind, for it conceives through its mouth like the viper. Its ink has such power that, when added to a lamp, some report that Ethiopians appear once the former light is removed. The squid (lulligo).
They report that in the Ocean of Mauretania, not far from the river Lixus, so great a multitude of squid fly out of the water that they can even sink ships. Shellfish (conchae) and snails (cochleae) are so called for this reason, that when the moon wanes they become hollowed out, that is, emptied. For at the moon's increase the members of all closed-shell sea creatures and of shellfish swell, and at its waning they are emptied. For when the moon is in its increase, it augments moisture; but when it comes to its waning, the moistures are diminished; this indeed the natural philosophers assert. The 'conchae' bear the name of the primary form, while the 'cochleae' bear it by way of diminution, as it were 'conchleae.' There are many kinds of shellfish; among them are the pearl-bearing ones, which are called 'oceloe,' in whose flesh a precious stone hardens.
Concerning these, those who have written on the natures of living things relate that at night they seek the shores, and from the heavenly dew they conceive a pearl; and hence they are named 'oceloe.' The murex is a sea-snail, so called from its point and roughness, which by another name is called conchylium, because, when cut around with iron, it emits tears of a purple color, from which purple dye is made; and thence it is called 'ostrum,' because this dye is drawn out from the fluid of the shell (testa). Crabs (cancri) are so called because they are shellfish (conchae) having legs (crura): creatures hostile to oysters. For they live upon their flesh by a wondrous stratagem;
for since the oyster's stout shell cannot be forced open, the crab watches for when the oyster opens the barriers of its shell, and then the crab secretly throws in a little pebble, and, the oyster's closing being thus hindered, it gnaws away the oyster's flesh. Some report that if ten crabs are tied together with a bunch of basil, all the scorpions that are in the vicinity will gather to that place. There are two kinds of crabs: river crabs and sea crabs. The oyster (ostrea) is named from the shell (testa), by which the softness of the inner flesh is protected; for the Greeks call a shell 'ostra.' The word 'ostrea' (the shell) is neuter, but they call its flesh by the feminine. Mussels (musculi) are, as we have said before (§6), shellfish from whose milt the oysters conceive; and they are called 'musculi' as if 'little males' (masculi). The pelorides are named from Pelorus, a promontory of Sicily, where they abound (Virgil, Aeneid
3.687): 'But lo, Boreas from the narrow seat of Pelorus.' The 'ungues' (razor-clams) are so called from their resemblance to human fingernails (ungues). The tortoise (testudo) is so called because it is covered over with the covering of a shell (testa) in the manner of a vault. There are four kinds: land tortoises, sea tortoises, mud tortoises, that is, those living in mire and marshes; the fourth kind, the river tortoises, which live in fresh water. Some report—which is incredible—that ships sail more slowly when carrying the right foot of a tortoise. The sea-urchin (echinus) drew its name from the land hedgehog (echinus), which the common people call 'iricium'; its little shell is double, prickly with spines in the manner of chestnuts, when, still covered, they fall from the trees. Its flesh is soft and like vermilion, and there are three modes of hardness: as with the tortoise, the peloris, and the snail.
For both what we eat and where the flesh is are each called 'peloris.' Frogs (ranae) are so named from their croaking (garrulitas), because they make a din around the marshes where they breed, and they render the sounds of their voice with unwelcome clamorings. Of these some are called aquatic, some marsh-dwelling, some toads (rubetae), so called because they live in brambles (vepres), the largest of them all. Others are called 'calamites,' since they live among reeds (arundines) and shrubs, the smallest of all and the greenest; they are mute and voiceless. The 'agredulae' are small frogs dwelling in dry places or fields; hence too they are named. Some deny that dogs bark to whom a live frog has been given in a morsel of food. The sponge (spongia) is so called from 'to shape' (fingere), that is, to make bright and to wipe clean. Afranius (415):
'I come to you, that I may 'shape' (fingam) your neck with a linen cloth'—that is, wipe it clean. Cicero (Pro Sestio 77): 'The blood was being wiped away (effingebatur) with sponges'—that is, wiped clean. It is shown to be an animal, since gore clings to the rocks. Hence too, while it is cut away, it sheds blood. For some creatures live in the waters and swim about, like fish; others which stand fixed, like oysters, sea-urchins, sponges. Of these, some are called males, because their tubes are thin and closer-set; others females, which have larger and continuous tubes; others harder, which the Greeks call 'tragoi,' and which we may call 'goaty' on account of their roughness. The softest kind of them are called 'penicilli' (little brushes), because they are suited for swellings of the eyes and useful for wiping away rheum.
White sponges are made by care; for through the summer they are spread out in the sun, and like Punic wax they drink in whiteness. Pliny (32.142) says that the names of all creatures living in the waters number one hundred and forty-four, divided into the kinds of sea-beasts, of serpents common to both land and water, of crabs, of shellfish, of lobsters, of pelorides, of octopuses, of soles, of lizards, and of squid, and things like these; of which many, by a certain instinct of nature, recognize the order of their seasons, while some indeed wander in their own places without change. Among fish, moreover, some of the females conceive by union with the male and give birth to young; others lay eggs conceived without the reception of the male, and the male, following after, sprinkles them with the casting of his own seed;
and those which have been sprinkled by this office become capable of generation, but those which have not been thus flooded remain barren or rot away. VII. ON BIRDS. There is one name for birds (aves), but a diverse kind. For just as they differ from one another in appearance, so also in diversity of nature. For some are simple, like doves; some cunning, like the partridge; some submit themselves to the hand, like the hawk; some shy away, like the garamantes; some delight in the company of men, like the swallow; some love a secluded life in the wilds, like the turtledove; some feed only on seed that they find, like the goose; some eat flesh and are bent on plunder, like the kite; some are native (enchoriae), which always remain in their places, like the ostrich;
others are migratory (adventiciae), which return at their proper seasons, like storks and swallows; some are gregarious, that is, flying in flocks, like starlings and quails; some are solitary wanderers, that is, solitary because of their ambushes for plundering, like the eagle, the hawk, and whatever are of this sort; some make a din with their voices, like the swallow; some produce the sweetest songs, like the swan and the blackbird; some imitate the words and voices of men, like the parrot and the magpie. But others are innumerable both in kind and in habits; for no one can find out how many kinds of birds there are. For no one has been able to penetrate all the deserts of India and Ethiopia or Scythia, who might know their kinds or their differences.
Birds (aves) are so called because they have no fixed paths, but run about here and there through pathless places (avia). They are called 'alites' because they direct their wings (alae) to the heights and mount to lofty places by the rowing of their wings. 'Volucres' are so called from flying (volare). For whence we say 'to fly,' from the same source we also say 'to walk.' For 'vola' is called the middle part of the foot or of the hand; and in birds the 'vola' is the middle part of the wings, by whose motion the feathers are stirred; hence 'volucres.' 'Pulli' (chicks) is the name for the young of all birds; but the young of four-footed animals are also called 'pulli,' and a small human is a 'pullus.' The newly-born chicks, then, are so called because they are 'polluted' (polluti). Hence too a black garment is called 'pulla.' The wings (alae) are those in which the feathers, fixed in order, provide the use of flying. And they are called 'alae' because with these the birds cherish and warm the chicks they embrace (alant).
The feather (pinna) is so called from 'hanging' (pendere), that is, from flying; hence too 'to hang.' For flying creatures are moved by the aid of their feathers when they commit themselves to the air. The plume (pluma) is as it were 'piluma'; for as hairs (pili) are on the body of quadrupeds, so is the plume on birds. It is established that many names of birds are composed from the sound of their voice: such as the crane (grus), the raven (corvus), the swan (cygnus), the peacock (pavo), the kite (milvus), the screech-owl (ulula), the cuckoo (cuculus), the jackdaw (graculus), and the rest. For the variety of their voice taught men what they should be named. The eagle (aquila) is named from the keenness (acumen) of its eyes. For it is said to be of such keen sight that, when it is borne over the seas on unmoving wing and is not visible to human gaze, from so great a height it can see the little fish swimming, and, descending like a missile, it drags the plundered prey with its wings to the shore.
For it is also said that the eagle does not turn its gaze away even against the ray of the sun; and hence it holds its chicks suspended by its talon and exposes them to the rays of the sun, and those which it sees hold their gaze unmoving, it preserves as worthy of the breed; but those which turn their gaze aside, it casts off as degenerate. The vulture (vultur) is thought to be named from its slow flight (volatus tardus): for on account of the size of its body it does not have swift flight. Some say that certain of these do not mate by intercourse, but conceive and generate without coupling; and that their offspring live on almost to a hundred years. Vultures, moreover, like eagles, sense corpses even beyond the seas; for, flying higher, they behold from on high many things which are hidden by the darkness of the mountains.
The bird which among the Greeks is called 'gradipes' is among us called 'tarda' (the bustard), because, held back by its heavy flight, it is by no means lifted up, as other birds are, by the swiftness of its wings. Cranes (grues) took their name from their own voice; for they murmur with such a sound. And these, when they hasten on, follow one another in a lettered order. Concerning them Lucan (5.716): 'And the letter is disturbed and perishes as the wings are scattered.' They seek lofty places, so that they may more easily see the lands they seek. And the one who compels the column corrects it with its voice: but when it grows hoarse, another takes its place. At night, moreover, they divide the watches and keep the order of the vigils by turns, holding little stones with suspended toes, by which they may ward off sleep: what must be guarded against, their cry indicates. Their color betrays their age in them; for in old age they grow black.
Storks (ciconiae) are named from the sound they make in rattling, as it were 'cicaniae'; and this sound is rather of the mouth than of the voice, because they make it by clattering the beak. These are the heralds of spring, companions in fellowship, enemies of serpents; they fly across the seas and, gathering in a column, they proceed into Asia. Crows go before them as leaders, and they follow after like an army. They have exceptional devotion toward their offspring; for they cherish their nests so lavishly by constant brooding that they shed their feathers. And however much time they have spent in raising their young, so much time in turn are they themselves fed by their chicks. The 'olor' is the bird which the Greeks call 'kyknos.' And it is called 'olor' because it is entirely white with feathers; for no one recalls a black swan; for 'olon' in Greek means 'whole.'
The swan (cygnus), moreover, is named from singing (canere), because it pours out the sweetness of song with modulated voice. And it sings so sweetly for this reason, that it has a long and curved neck, and the voice, struggling forth through a long and winding path, must necessarily render varied modulations. They report that in the Hyperborean regions, when harpers strike up a prelude, very many swans fly to them and sing along most fittingly. And 'olores' is the Latin name; for in Greek they are called 'kyknoi.' Sailors indeed say that this bird makes a good omen for them, as Aemilius says (4): 'The swan is ever the most joyful of birds in auspices; sailors long for it, because it does not plunge itself into the waves.' The ostrich (struthio) is called by a Greek name, because the creature seems to have feathers in the likeness of a bird;
yet it does not lift itself higher from the ground. It neglects to warm its eggs; but, merely cast forth, they are brought to life by the warmth of the dust. The heron (ardea) is so called as if 'ardua' (lofty), that is, on account of its lofty flights. Lucan (5.554): 'And because the heron dared to fly.' For it dreads rainstorms, and flies above the clouds, so that it cannot feel the tempests of the clouds. And when it flies higher, it signifies a storm. Many call this bird Tantalus. The phoenix, a bird of Arabia, is so called because it has a Phoenician (purple-red) color, or because it is unique and singular in all the world. For the Arabs call anything singular 'phoenix.'
This bird, living beyond five hundred years, when it sees that it has grown old, builds itself a pyre from gathered twigs of aromatic spices, and, turning toward the ray of the sun, with the beating of its wings it kindles for itself a voluntary conflagration, and thus rises again from its own ashes. The cinnamolgus is likewise a bird of Arabia, so named for this reason, that in lofty groves it weaves its nests from the twigs of the cinnamon tree: and since men cannot climb up there on account of the height and fragility of the branches, they attack those same nests with lead-weighted javelins, and thus bring down that cinnamon, and sell it at higher prices; for merchants prize cinnamon more than any other.
The parrot (psittacus) is born on the shores of India, of a green color, with a crimson collar around its neck, with a large tongue broader than that of other birds. Hence too it utters articulate words, so that if you did not see it, you would think a man were speaking. And by nature it gives a greeting, saying 'have' (hail) or 'chaire.' Its other words it learns by instruction. Hence is that verse (Martial 14.73): 'A parrot, I shall learn from you the names of others; this I have learned to say of myself: Hail, Caesar.' The halcyon (alcyon) is called a bird of the deep, as it were 'the ocean bird' (ales oceanea), because in winter it makes its nests on the pools of the ocean and rears its chicks: and while it broods, it is reported that over the outstretched surface the sea, with the winds silent, grows mild in an unbroken calm of seven days, and that Nature herself provides her service for the rearing of its young.
The pelican (pelicanus) is an Egyptian bird dwelling in the solitude of the river Nile, whence too it took its name; for Egypt is called Canopos. It is reported, if it be true, that it kills its own young and mourns them for three days, then wounds itself and by the sprinkling of its own blood brings its offspring back to life. The Stymphalian birds (Stymphalidae) are named from the Stymphades islands, where they abound in great numbers; against these Hercules used his arrows. For they are birds of the deep dwelling on islands. The Diomedean birds are named from the companions of Diomedes, who according to the fables were turned into those same birds; they are similar in form to a coot, in size to swans, of white color, with hard and large beaks.
They are found around Apulia on the island of Diomedea, flitting among the crags of the shores and the rocks; and they judge between their own people and strangers. For if one is a Greek, they draw nearer and fawn upon him; if a foreigner, they attack and wound him with their bite, grieving as if with tearful voices either for their own transformation or for the death of their king. For Diomedes was slain by the Illyrians. And these birds are called 'Diomediae' in Latin, but the Greeks call them 'erodioi.' The Memnonian birds (Memnonides) are Egyptian, named from the place where Memnon perished. For they are said to fly in flocks from Egypt to Ilium, beside the tomb of Memnon, and therefore the people of Ilium call them the Memnonian birds.
In the fifth year they come to Ilium, and when they have circled about for two days, on the third day, entering into battle, they tear one another in turn with their talons and beaks. The Hercynian birds are named from the Hercynian forest of Germany, where they are born; their feathers gleam so brightly through the dark that, although the night be covered over with dense shadows, they shine out when cast ahead to serve as a safeguard for directing one's journey, and the course of the way is laid open by the indication of the shining plumes. The Greeks call the pelican 'onocrotalus' from its long beak. Of these there are two kinds: one aquatic, the other of the wilderness. The ibis is a bird of the river Nile, which purges itself, pouring water into its anus with its beak. It feeds on the eggs of serpents, carrying off from them a most welcome food for its nests.
The bee-eaters (meropes), also called 'gauli,' are said to hide away and feed their own parents. The 'coredulus' is a kind of flying creature, as it were 'heart-eating' (cor edens). The jackdaw (monedula) is a bird, as it were 'monetula' (little coiner), which, when it finds gold, carries it off and hides it. Cicero, on behalf of Valerius Flaccus (76): 'Gold is no more to be entrusted to you than to a jackdaw.' The bat (vespertilio) received its name from the time of day, because, fleeing the light, it flits about in the evening twilight (crepusculo vespertino), driven with headlong motion, and hanging by the thinnest membranes of its arms; a creature similar to a mouse, resounding not so much with a voice as with a shrill screech; in appearance both a flying creature and a quadruped at once, which is not usually found in other birds. The nightingale (luscinia) took its name from this, that with its song it is wont to signal the rising of the dawning day, as it were 'lucinia' (light-bringer).
同一種鳥也稱作「acredula」，關於牠，西塞羅在《徵兆論》中（殘篇第六）說：「acredula鳥奏起牠清晨的歌。」鴟鴞（ulula）之名取自「apo tou ololyzein」，即源於哀號與悲慟；因為當牠鳴叫時，牠所模仿的不是哭泣就是呻吟。因此在占卜者當中，若牠哀鳴，便據說顯示悲傷，而當牠靜默時，則顯示昌盛。鵰鴞（bubo）之名由其叫聲組成，是一種喪葬之鳥，雖滿身羽毛，卻總被沉重的怠惰所拖累：牠日夜棲居於墳塋，並總是逗留於洞穴之中。關於牠，奧維德（《變形記》五卷五四九節）說：「她變成一隻污穢的鳥，是將臨之悲的使者，那怠惰的鵰鴞，是給世人的凶兆。」總之，在占卜者當中據說牠預示災禍：因為當牠在城中被看見時，他們說牠意味著荒涼。
The same bird is also called 'acredula,' concerning which Cicero in the Prognostics (fragment 6): 'And the acredula plies its morning songs.' The screech-owl (ulula) is named 'apo tou ololyzein,' that is, from wailing and mourning; for when it cries out, it imitates either weeping or groaning. Hence too among the augurs, if it laments, it is said to show sorrow, but when silent, prosperity. The eagle-owl (bubo) has a name composed from the sound of its voice, a funereal bird, laden indeed with feathers, but always held back by a heavy sluggishness: it dwells in tombs by day and night, and always lingering in caverns. Concerning it Ovid (Metamorphoses 5.549): 'And she becomes a foul bird, herald of coming grief, the slothful eagle-owl, a dire omen to mortals.' Finally, among the augurs it is said to portend evil: for when it has been seen in a city, they say it signifies desolation.
The little owl (noctua) is so called because it flits about by night (nocte) and cannot see by day; for when the splendor of the sun has risen, its sight is dimmed. The island of Crete does not have this bird; and if it comes from elsewhere, it dies at once. But the little owl is not the eagle-owl; for the eagle-owl is larger. The night-raven (nycticorax) is itself the little owl, because it loves the night. For it is a light-shunning bird, and cannot bear to see the sun. The screech-owl (strix) is a nocturnal bird, having its name from the sound of its voice; for when it cries it shrieks (stridet). Concerning it Lucan (6.689): 'What the fearful eagle-owl, what the nocturnal strix lament.' This bird is commonly called 'amma,' from loving (amare) little ones; hence too it is reported to offer milk to the newborn. The raven (corvus), or 'corax,' has its name from the sound of its throat, because it croaks (coracinet) with its voice.
It is reported of this bird that it does not fully provide food to the chicks it has hatched, before it recognizes in them the likeness of its own color through the blackness of their feathers; but after it has seen them dark with plumes, it feeds them more abundantly, now recognized as its own in every respect. This bird is the first to go for the eye in corpses. The crow (cornix), an aged bird, is called among the Latins by a Greek name; the augurs say that it conducts the concerns of men by its signs, that it shows the paths of ambushes, and foretells future things. It is a great impiety to believe this—that God should entrust His counsels to crows. Among its many auspices they also attribute to it the portending of rains by its cries; hence is that verse (Virgil, Georgics 1.388): 'Then the crow with full voice calls for rain, importunate.' The jackdaw (graculus) is named from its chattering (garrulitas);
not, as some would have it, because they fly in flocks (gregatim); since it is manifest that they are named from their voice. For it is a most talkative kind and troublesome with its cries. Magpies (picae) are as it were 'poeticae,' because they express words with a distinction of voice, like a man. For, hanging among the branches of trees, sounding with troublesome chatter, even if they cannot unfold their tongues in speech, yet they imitate the sound of the human voice. Concerning it someone aptly says (Martial 14.76): 'I, the chattering magpie, salute you, my master, with a sure voice: if you should not see me, you would deny that I am a bird.' The woodpecker (picus) took its name from Picus, the son of Saturn, because he used it in auspices.
For they report that this bird has something divine, by this indication: that in whatever tree it has nested, a nail, or whatever else has been fixed there, cannot cling long without at once falling out where the bird has settled. This is the woodpecker of Mars (picus Martius); for the magpie (pica) is another bird. The peacock (pavo) has its name from the sound of its voice; its flesh is so hard that it scarcely feels rot, nor is it easily cooked. Concerning it someone speaks thus (Martial 13.70): 'You marvel, as often as it unfolds its jeweled wings, if you can hand this over, hard-hearted man, to a cruel cook.' The pheasant (phasianus) is named from Phasis, an island of Greece, whence it was first carried away. That old distich attests it (Martial 13.72): 'I was first transported by an Argive keel: before, nothing was known to me except the Phasis.' The rooster (gallus) is named from castration;
for among all other birds, only from this one are the testicles removed. For the ancients used to call castrated ones 'galli.' Now, just as from the lion (leo) comes the lioness (leaena) and from the dragon (draco) the she-dragon (dracaena), so from the rooster (gallus) comes the hen (gallina). Its limbs, as some report, if they are mixed with molten gold, are consumed. The 'anas' (duck) received a name fitting for its constant swimming (natandi). Of this kind certain ones are called 'germanae,' because they nourish more than the rest. The name 'anas' gave rise to 'anser' (goose) by derivation, either from resemblance, or because it too has a frequency of swimming. This bird by the constancy of its clanging attests to the night-watches. And no animal so perceives the scent of a man as the goose; hence too by its clanging the ascent of the Gauls upon the Capitol was detected. The coot (fulica) is so called because its flesh tastes of the hare (leporinam);
for 'lagos' means 'hare,' whence too among the Greeks it is called 'lagos.' It is a marsh bird, having its nests in the middle of the water, or on rocks which the waters surround, and it always delights in the depths of the sea. And when it has perceived a storm in advance, it plays fleeing in the shallows. The 'mergus' (diver-bird) has this name clinging to it from the constancy of its diving (mergendi). And often, with its head plunged into the deep, they gather beneath the waves the signs of the breezes, and, foreseeing a tempest of the sea, they head for the shores with a cry. For when the divers have fled to the shores, there is already a most severe tempest on the open sea. The hawk (accipiter) is a bird armed more with spirit than with talons, bearing greater strength in a smaller body. It took its name from 'accipiendo,' that is, from 'seizing' (capiendo).