COEVTJS AND COHNIX. 1 33 



So also did Pliny,' ia the following curious passage : ' The Corvus 

 lays its eggs before midsummer, and is then in bad condition 

 for sixty days, up to the ripening of the figs in autumn : but 

 the cornix begins to be disordered after that time.' Virgil 

 also uses the words for two distinct, species ; his cornix is 

 solitary- 

 Turn conrix plena pluviam vooat improba voce 

 Et sola in sicca secum spatiatur arena ; ^ 



while corvus is gregarious, as is shown in the following memor- 

 able description of Nature and of the birds taking heart after 

 the storm has passed : — 



Turn liquidas corvi presBO ter gutture voces 

 Aut quater ingeminant, et saepe cubilibus altis 

 Nesoio qua praeter solitum dulcedine laeti, 

 Inter se in foliis strepitant ; juvat imbribus actis 

 Progeniem parvam dulcesque revisere natos.' 



That in these last beautiful lines corvus means a Book, no 

 Englishman is likely to deny ; yet there are two diificulties to 

 be put aside before we can make the assertion with entire 

 confidence. The first is, that Virgil, here following Aratus, 



1 N. H. X. 32. 



' Then the crow 

 With full voice, good-for-nought, inviting rain, 

 Stalks on the dry sand mateless and alone. 



^ Soft then the voice of rooks from indrawn throat ' 

 Thrice, four timesj o'er repeated, and full oft 

 On their high cradles by some hidden joy 

 Gladdened beyond their wont, in bustling throngs 

 Among the leaves "they riot ; so sweet it is 

 When showers are spent, their own loved nests again 

 And tender brood to visit. Qearg. i. 410. 



