TIEGIL S SBA-BIEDS. I33 



Jam sibi turn curvis male temperat unda carinis, 

 Cum medio oeleres revolant ex aequore mergi 

 Clamoremque ferunf ad litora, cumque maiinae 

 In sicoo ludunt fulioae, notasque paludes 

 Deserit atque altam supra volat ardea nubem.' 



The words mergi and fulicae in these lines have been the 

 subject of much discussion among commentators. That Virgil 

 meant by mergus some particular bird known to himself, there 

 can be little doubt ; for he has transferred to the m&rgus what 

 Aratus (here his original) says of the Heron (ip&hios). And 

 rightly so; for the Heron never goes out to sea to fish, as 

 it needs standing ground and is no swimmer. This nwrgus 

 stands probably for the Gull in a generic sense ; Virgil had 

 doubtless seen them flying to the Campanian coast before a 

 coming storm, and altered Aratus accordingly. The fidica 

 marina is translated by Mr. Blackmore ' sea-coot,' which is 

 correct but meaningless, and by Mr. Ehoades^ 'cormorant'; 



^ deorg. i. 356 foil. I quote this time Mr. K. D. Blackmore^s admirable 



rhyming version. 



Ere yet the lowering storm breaks o'er the land 

 A suUen groundswell heaves along the strand, 

 On mountain heights dry snapping sounds are heard, 

 The booming shores bedrizzled are and blurred 

 And soughs of wind sigh through the forest stirred. 

 The wave already scarce foregoes the hull 

 When homeward from the oflSng flies the gull. 

 With screams borne inland by the blast; and when 

 Sea-coots play round the margin of the fen; 

 The heron quits the marsh where she was bred 

 And soars upon a cloud far overhead. 

 * Following Keightley*s commentary, which is the best we possess on 



Georg. i. 351-423- 



