19^ A GLOSSARY OF GREEK BIRDS 



XEAIAGN (continued). 

 and obscure. How Swallows that had built in Cleopatra's galley were 

 expelled by others before Actium, Plut. Anton. Ix, i. 944 a ; cf. Ant. and 

 CI., ' Swallows in Cleopatra's sails Have built their nests.' The Swallow 

 that fluttered round Alexander's head as an omen of treachery, Arr. 

 Anab. i. 25 rr\v yap ^eXidoua crvvrpocpov re eivai opviOa ko\ evuovv avOpoairois 

 koI \d\ov paXXov fj aWijv opvida. See Class. Rev. 1891, p. 231. 



A Sign of Kain. — Arat. Phen. 944 rj Xlfivr]v nept drjda. ^eXiSofe? dtaaov- 

 rai I yaa-repi TinrTOvaai avTcos elXevpevov vScop : cf. Theoph. Sign. vi. I, 

 Virg. G. i. 377- 



Fables. — The Swallow and the Nightingale, vide s. v. cajSwy. The 

 Swallow and Eagle, Plut. ii. 223 F. The Wise Swallow and the Hen, 

 Aes. 342 (ed. Halm). The Crow and the Swallow, to pev crov koXXos 

 tt]v iapivrjV copau dvOel^ to 8e ipbv aaipa kcl\ )(€ipa>vi TrapaTeiveTai, Aes. 4*5' 

 The Crow (or the Swans) and the Swallow, n av frroirjo-as, el rfjv y\S>TTav 

 ci^ey, 07TOV Tprjdfio-rjs roaaiira XaXris, Aes. 416, 416 b. The Swallow and 

 other Birds, Aes. 417, 417 b. The Swallow building in the Law-court, 



oT/xoi rrj t-evy, on evda irdures SiKaiovvrai, pout] eycoye rj8Ur)pai, Aes. 418, 



418 b : cf. Babr. 118. The Swallow out of due season, Babr. 131. 



XEAQNO<t>AToi. A kind of Eagle or Vulture, Hesych. The name 

 suggests the Lammergeier. In Sparta the name ^eXama/^? is 

 said to be now applied to Aquila imperialism but surely not to 

 the exclusion of the Lammergeier. 

 The Lammergeier does indeed eat tortoises, as has b'een mentioned 

 above ; and it may accordingly be held that the name x ( ^ vo( p^y° s 

 is manifestly so simple a descriptive term as to throw doubt on 

 my astronomical interpretation of the Eagle that slew the Serpent 

 or the Swan. But it is curious to note that the constellation of 

 the Tortoise is placed in very much the same relation to that of 

 the Eagle as is that of the Swan : moreover the Tortoise forms 

 part of the constellation Lyra, another name for which is the 

 Vulture, and to the latter 'bird' the Eagle is said also to be 

 hostile. It is only natural that those astronomical ' hostilities ' 

 should be the most commented on, which are somewhat akin to 

 zoological fact or possibility. 



XE'NNION, s. xemW. 



A kind of Quail, eaten pickled by the Egyptians. 



Athen. ix. 393 c pwpbv 8 iarh oprvyiop : cf. Cleomen. and Hipparch. 

 ibi citt., &c. Pall. Alex, xxi, Gk. Anth. iii. 119 fjpels 8' eo-QLopev kckXt}- 

 pevoi dXpvpa iravra \ \evvia kcu rvpovs, XV V0S dXicTTa Xitttj. According to 



Bent (Cyclades, 1885, p. 128) potted or pickled quails are still eaten in 



