70 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



another, the one carrying off the other's food. So, too, 

 there are antipathies between the Crow and the Owl, 

 the Eagle and the Trochilus ; between the last two, if 

 we are to believe the story, because the latter has re- 

 ceived the title of ' the king of birds ; ' the same, again, 

 with the Owlet and all the smaller birds. 



" Again, in relation to the terrestrial animals, the 

 Weasel is at enmity with the Crow, the Turtle-dove 

 with the Pyrallis, the Ichneumon with the Wasp, and the 

 Phalangium with other Spiders. Among aquatic animals, 

 there is enmity between the Duck and the Seamew, the 

 Falcon known as the ' Harpe,' and the Hawk called 

 the ' Triorchis.' In a similar manner, too, the Shrew- 

 mouse and the Heron are ever on the watch for each 

 other's young ; and the ^Egithus, so small a bird as it 

 is, has an antipathy for the Ass ; for the latter, when 

 scratching itself, rubs its body against the brambles, and 

 so crushes the bird's nest ; a thing of which it stands in 

 such dread, that, if it only hears the voice of the Ass 

 when it brays, it will throw its eggs out of the nest, and 

 the young ones, themselves, will, sometimes, fall to the 

 ground in their fright ; hence it is that it will fly at the 

 Ass, and peck at its sores with its beak. 



"The Fox, too, is at war with the Nisus, and Serpents 

 with Weasels and Swine. ^Esalon is the name given to 

 a small bird that breaks the eggs of the Raven, and the 

 young of which are anxiously sought by the Fox ; while, 

 in its turn, it will peck at the young of the Fox, and 

 even the parent itself. As soon as the Ravens espy 

 this, they come to its assistance, as though against a 

 common enemy. The Acanthi's, too, lives among the 

 brambles ; hence it is that it also has an antipathy to 

 the Ass, because it devours the bramble blossoms. The 



