Gallinago Colius or Galgulus 89 



Woodcocks are never seen with us save in the winter, 

 wherefore I have naught to say about their young or mode of 

 nesting. They are chiefly caught in England in the woods 

 at daybreak and at dusk, by means of nets hung in some 

 place devoid of trees, and dropped when the bird comes. 



OF THE COLIUS, OR GALGULUS, AS GAZA RENDERS 

 IT, FROM ARISTOTLE. 



Of the Galgulus the size is almost that of the 

 Turtur : it is yellowish in colour, and hacks timber 

 very much, and for the most part feeds on trees : it 

 utters a loud cry. This bird is mainly an inhabitant 

 of the Peloponnese. 



All that Aristotle has so far attributed to the Colius 

 or Galgulus is in agreement with the Huhol of the English 

 and the Grunspecht of the Germans (if one may except its 

 being chiefly an inhabitant of the Peloponnese). For it is 

 nearly equal to the Turtle-Dove in size ; it hacks the timber, 

 hammers rotten wood, and utters a loud cry. But I give no 

 decision here, I only ask. The Galgulus of Pliny is said to be 

 called the Icteros in Greek, and if we trust to Theodorus [Gaza] 

 is also the /eeXeo? of Aristotle. Though, on consulting the 

 Greek text KO\IO? seemed to be one bird, and /ceXeo? 1 another, 

 for the reading was : #0X409 e'o-rt vXotf07ro<? 0<f)6Spa, KCLI 

 veperat, eVJ. rwv gv\(ov ra TroXXa. That is, the Colius is 

 especially a wood-hunter and for the most part feeds on 

 wood, d fiev jap *:eXeo<? irapa TTorapov oltcei KOL Xo^a9, 

 which words Theodorus renders "around the thickets and 

 the groves," but whether rightly so or otherwise I leave 

 to be decided by the learned. In the Alps I saw sitting 

 upon a fir a bird of the size of a Turtle-Dove, marked as 

 it seemed with green patches on yellow, which to me in the 

 whole aspect of the body called to mind the Picus Martius, 

 save that its head was like in colour to the rest of its body 



1 Turner appears to have had a text with the word <eXeor in one place 

 instead of KO\IOS. 



