BOOK VIII. XI. 5-9 



In the last part of the winter the desires of both sexes 6 

 must be kindled by foods which excite lust. The 

 best means to this end is to toast some beans over 

 embers which are not very hot and give them while 

 still warm to the fowls every fifth day on an empty 

 stomach ; but you should not go beyond six cyathi to 

 each bird. This food must not be scattered pro- 

 miscuously to all of them together but must be 

 placed in each of the enclosures, which I had suggested 

 should be made of reeds woven together, a portion 

 having been set aside for five hens and a cock and 

 likewise water which should be suitable for drinking. 

 When this has been done the male birds are driven, 7 

 without quarrelling, each into its own enclosure 

 together with their hens, and the food is equally 

 distributed over the whole flock. For even among 

 birds of this kind pugnacious males are found which 

 try to deprive those which are weaker than them- 

 selves of food and sexual intercourse, if they are not 

 kept apart in this way. Generally in sunny places, 

 when the west winds begin to blow, that is, from the 

 13th of February until the month of March, a desire 

 for sexual intercourse torments the male birds. It 8 

 is a sign that a peacock's lust is excited when it 

 covers itself with its bejewelled tail-feathers and 

 seems to be admiring itself; when it does so, it is said 

 to be " forming a wheel." 



After the mating season the laying hens must 

 immediately be watched carefully lest they lay their 

 eggs anywhere except in the peacock-house, and 

 the parts of the females must often be felt with the 

 fingers, for, when the time for laying is at hand, they 

 carry their eggs in readiness. When they begin to 9 

 lay they must be shut up, so that they may not 



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