B. IX. J THE HISTOET OF ANIMALS. 239 



5. Observations have been frequently made on the instinct 

 of the hedgehog, for when the north and south winds change, 

 those that dwell in the earth alter the position of the en- 

 trance of their burrows ; those which are kept in houses alter 

 their position from wall to wall, so that they say that in 

 Byzantium there was a person who obtained the character 

 of predicting the change of the weather, from observations 

 made on the hedgehog. Theictis is about the size of a small 

 Maltese dog ; in the thickness of its hair, its appearance, 

 its white belly, and the cunning of its disposition, it re- 

 sembles the weasel ; it is easily tamed ; it attacks hives of 

 bees, for it is very fond of honey ; it eats birds like cats ; 

 its penis, as it has been already observed, is bony, and ap- 

 pears to be a remedy for stranguary in the human subject ; 

 it is administered in shavings. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



1. MANY animals in their mode of life appear to imitate 

 mankind, and one may observe greater accuracy of intellect 

 in small than in large animals ; as the manufacture of its 

 dwelling by the swallow is remarkable among birds ; it has 

 the same method of combining chaff with mud, for it mixes 

 the mud with straw, and if mud is not to be found, it 

 dips in the water and rolls itself in the dust ; it uses straw 

 in making its nest as men use it, for it places the largest 

 at the bottom, and makes it commensurate with its own 

 bulk ; both the male and female labour in support of the 

 young. They feed each in turn, observing by some agree- 

 ment the one which was first fed that none may receive food 

 twice ; at first they turn the dung out of the nest, but as 

 the young birds increase in size, they teach them to turn 

 themselves, so as to eject their excrement out of the nest. 



2. There are some observations which may be made on 

 pigeons, for they will not pair with many mates, nor do they 

 forsake their first companion, unless they become widowed. 

 The care and anxiety of the male at the time of parturition 

 are remarkable, for if the pain causes the hen to feel languid 

 when near the nest, he beats her and drives her in. When 

 the young are hatched, the parent provides salt earth, which 

 is injected into the open mouth of the young birds, as a pre- 

 paration for the reception of food. When it is time for 

 them to leave the nest, the male copulates with them all. 



