246 ARISTOTLE'S ENAIMA, 



Brepanis was the name given by the ancient Greeks to the 

 sand-martin. 



The name Kiclile is used by Aristotle for any kind of 

 thrush. He says that the Kichlai build their nests in 

 proximity to one another in tree tops, and that they make 

 them of mud.* This description seems to apply best to the 

 fieldfares, which nest in colonies, usually at a good height 

 in trees, and, like some other thrushes, use mud in making 

 their nests. He also says that there are three kinds of 

 Kichlai, one of which, called Ixoboros, feeds on mistletoe 

 and resin, t This bird is evidently intended to be the missel 

 thrush. Aristotle says that Ixoboros is about as large as 

 Kitta. X The common jay, which seems to be the Kitta, is 

 somewhat larger than the missel thrush. 



Aristotle says that there is a bird living among the rocks, 

 especially in Scyros, and called Kyanos, or blue bird, that it 

 is smaller than the Kottyphos, or blackbird, but larger than 

 the Spiza (chaffinch?), that it is quite blue, and that its 

 beak is long and smooth, its legs short, and its feet black. § 



This description applies very well to the male blue rock 

 thrush, which is common in Greece and, apparently, the 

 Greek Isles. 



Under the name Aigithalos, Aristotle included the tits, 

 and says that they are insectivorous and lay more eggs than 

 other birds. II There are, he says, three kinds, viz., the 

 Spizites, which is the largest and about as large as Spiza 

 (apparently the chaffinch), the Orelnos, which lives in 

 mountainous places and has a long tail, and a third which is 

 very small. ^ 



Spizites and Oreinos are evidently the great tit {Pariis 

 major) and a long-tailed tit, e.g., Acredula caudata, re- 

 spectively. It is not possible to determine what the very 

 small tit is intended to be ; Sundevall identified it with the 

 marsh tit {Parus palustris).^* 



Aristotle clearly refers to the nightingale, which he calls 

 Aedon, the name which is still given to it by modern Greeks. 

 The statements Aristotle makes about the nightingale, even 

 about its song, are of but little importance, and his assertion 

 that both the male and female sing ft is incorrect. This 



-1= H. A. vi. c. 1, s. 3. -f- Ihid. is. c. 18, s. 2. 



I Ihid. § Ibid. ix. c. 18, s. 3. 



II Ibid. viii. c. 5, s. 3, ix. c. 16, s. 1. 11 Ibid. viii. c. 5, s. 3. 

 ** Die Thierarten des Aristotcles, 1863, p. 115. 



•j-f H. A. iv. c. 9, s. 7. 



