Chap. 69.] THE IfEW BHms. 529 



bird ; but although it has a voice at other times, it is mute in 

 captivity. It was formerly ^^ reckoned among the rare birds, 

 but at the present day it is found in Gallia, Spain, and in the 

 Alps even ; which is also the case with the phalacrocorax,^* a 

 bird peculiar to the Balearic Isles, as the pyrrhocorax,^^ a black 

 bird with a yellow bill, is to the Alps, and the lagopus,^'^ which 

 is esteemed for its excellent flavour. This last bird derives 

 its name from its feet, which are covered, as it were, with the 

 fur of a hare, the rest of the body being white, and the size of 

 a pigeon. It is not an easy matter to taste it out of its native 

 country, as it never becomes domesticated, and when dead it 

 quickly spoils. 



There is another ^' bird also, which has the same name, and 

 only differs from the quail in size ; it is of a saffron colour, 

 and is most delicate eating. Egnatius Calvinus, who was pre- 

 fect there, pretends that he has seen ®^ in the Alps the ibis also, 

 a bird that is peculiar to Egypt. 



CHAP. 69. (49.) THE IfEW BIRDS. THE VIPIO. 



During the civil wars that took place at Bebriacum, beyond 

 the river Padus, the " new birds "^^ were introduced into Italy 

 — for by that name they are still known. They resemble the 

 thrush in appearance, are a little smaller than the pigeon in 



pointed tail, of the south of Europe, the Tetrao alchata of Linnaeus, most 

 probably the latter, as the male has black and blue spots on the back ; a 

 fact which may explain the joke in the " Birds " of Aristophanes, where a 

 run-away slave who has been marked with stripes, is called an attagen. By 

 some it is called the " red-headed hazel-hen." 



93 In allusion, perhaps, to the words of Horace, Epod. ii. 54. 

 Non attagen lonicus 

 Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis 

 Oliva ram is arborum. 

 9* Literally, the " bald crow." Pliny, B. xi. c. 47, says that it is an 

 aquatic bird :' and naturalists generally identify it with the cormorant, the 

 Pelecanus carbo of Linnaeus. 



95 Literally, the red crow, the chocard of the Alps, the Corvus pyrrho- 

 corax of Linnaeus. 



96 The "hare's foot." Identical with the snow partridge, the Tetrao 

 lagopus of Linnseus ; it is white in winter. 



97 The same bird, Cuvier says, as seen in summer, being then of a 

 saflfrou colour, with blackish spots. 



98 Cuvier remarks, that the green courlis, the Scolopax falcinellus of 

 Linnseus, which is not improbably the real ibis of the ancients, is by no 

 means uncommon in Italy. 



99 " Novoe aves." The grey partridge, Hardouin thinks. 



VOL. II. M M 



