OR ANIMALS WITH BLOOD. 247 



error arose perhaps from the ancient popular behef about 

 the origin of the nightingale, by the metamorphosis of an 

 Athenian princess, Philomela, into a nightingale, or from 

 failure to determine the sex of the singer. It is in Aristo- 

 phanes that full justice is done to its song, the character 

 representing the nightingale being called upon by the hoopoe, 

 the king of the birds, to imitate the divine and entrancing 

 notes of the nightingale by giving a flute solo.* 



The Epops, according to Aristotle, lives in woody and 

 mountainous regions, t and does not build a nest, but lays its 

 eggs in a hollow tree. + This bird is the hoopoe. It frequents 

 woods and open country which is not devoid of trees or bushes, 

 but Aristotle's assertion that the Epops lives in mountain- 

 ous regions seems to be quite true of the hoopoes of Turkey, 

 for, in the Section on the Hoopoe, in vol. 5 of Sharpe and 

 Dresser's Birds of Europe, the following statement by Mr. 

 Kobson of Ortakeuy is quoted : — " In Turkey, where the 

 vernacular name signifies ' Mountain Cock,' they are most 

 partial to the sides of mountains, although often found in 

 the valleys." 



The wryneck is sufficiently clearly indicated by Aristotle, 

 who calls it lynx, and says that it has dappled plumage, a 

 long extensible tongue, and two toes directed forwards and 

 two backwards, and that it hisses and turns its neck back- 

 wards, like a snake, while its body remains still. § He also 

 says that lynx is a little larger than 8piza.\\ It is uncertain 

 to what bird the name Spiza refers, but it is probable that a 

 chaffinch is meant. 



The insectivorous habits of the woodpecker, called by 

 him Dryokolaptes, which means " one that makes holes in 

 trees," are sufficiently clearly described by Aristotle, but he 

 incorrectly states that its tongue is flat.H He refers to 

 three kinds of woodpeckers, one of which may be the great 

 black woodpecker {Picus martins) ; this kind, he says, is 

 not much smaller than a domestic hen, and feeds on ants 

 and larvae.** A certain tame bird, he says, of this kind 

 was known to place an almond in a chink in wood, and then 

 break it at the third stroke of its bill, in order to get at the 

 kernel, ft 



Aristotle's statements about the cuckoo are of much 



* The Birds, 202-22. j H. A. ix. c. 12, s. 3. 



I Ibid. vi. c. 1, s. 3, § Ibid. ii. c. 8, s. 2 ; P. A. iv. c. 12, 695a. 



II Ibid. ii. c. 8, s. 2. *F Ibid. ix. c. 10, s. 2. 

 ** Ibid. tf Ibid. 



