OR ANIMALS WITH BLOOD. 241 



toad) , Typhlines (the blind-worm) , Hydros (the grass-snake) , 

 and Saura, which included the wall and other lizards. In 

 H. A. \. c. 5, s. 4, he says that some say that there are 

 winged snakes in ^Ethiopia. This report probably originated 

 from the ancient representations of winged snakes, such as, 

 for instance, those on certain Egyptian mummy cases, some 

 of which, from Edfu, Thebes, and other places, may be seen 

 in the Egyptian Kooms of the British Museum. Herodotus 

 also refers to the reported existence of snakes, with wings 

 like those of a bat, in Arabia.* All the representations 

 referred to above, in the Egyptian Kooms, show snakes with 

 feathered wings ; there does not seem to be one with wings 

 like those of a bat. 



About one hundred and seventy birds are described or 

 mentioned by Aristotle. Only a comparatively small number 

 of these can be identified satisfactorily. 



His Gampsonyches included eagles, hawks, kites, ospreys, 

 owls, and vultures. He refers to them in many passages, 

 and says that they are carnivorous birds with hooked beaks 

 and claws, keen-sighted eyes, and well-developed breasts and 

 wings. 



Owls were so well known at Athens that to take one 

 there was a useless act,! something like carrying coals to 

 Newcastle. It is not surprising that Aristotle often refers 

 to them. He uses not less than seven names denoting at 

 least seven different kinds of owls. One of these names, Glaux, 

 is sometimes used to denote owls in general, but the kind to 

 which it seems specially to refer is the little owl (Strix 

 noctua), sacred to Athene. The Shops which, Aristotle says, 

 is smaller than the Glaux, I is probably the common scops 

 owl. He clearly refers to the eared owls, for he says that 

 Otos, which some call Nyktikorax, is like Glaux, but has 

 feathers near its ears. 



Among diurnal birds of prey may be specially mentioned 

 Aristotle s Kenchris, Haliaietos, and Iktinos. The kestrel 

 seems to be referred to in his statements that Kenchris 

 lays four or more eggs, which is more than those of other 

 birds of its kind, and that the eggs are ochre-coloured or 

 reddish-brown. |i The statement about the number of 

 eggs is substantially true of the hawks and other diurnal 

 birds of prey, most of which lay two, three, or four eggs. 



* ii. 75, 76, iii. 109. f Aristoph. The Birds, 301. 



| H. A. viii. c. 5, s. 2. Ibid. viii. c. 14, s. 6. 



Ii Ibid. vi. c. l,s. 2, vi. c. 2, s. 2. 



R 



