252 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



colymbis as one of the birds which did so. It is scarcely likely 

 that Aristophanes would try to introduce into this part of the 

 comedy a bird probably unknown to the Athenian audience. 



Aristotle's laros included more than one species of birds, and 

 perhaps more than one genus. His descriptions point clearly to 

 the Gulls, and possibly the Terns, of which collectively there are 

 at least eight species common in Grecian waters. Belon seems 

 to identify Aristotle's ash-coloured laros with the Common Gull 

 (Larus canus), but Sundevall suggests that Aristotle used the 

 epithets " ash-coloured" and " white " for young and adult Gulls 

 respectively, the plumage of which differs, as is well known, 

 according to age. It is scarcely possible to decide with any 

 degree of satisfaction which birds were intended to be meant by 

 the epithets, but the name laros may be fairly regarded as 

 referring in particular to L. canus, and perhaps the Herring- 

 Gull (L. argentatus), the Adriatic Gull (L. melanocephalus) , and 

 others. Modern Greeks still call the Sea-gulls glaroi. 



The identification of Aristotle's aithyia has caused much 

 difficulty and some confusion, arising chiefly from the fact that 

 Pliny describes, under the name mergus, a bird clearly intended 

 to be Aristotle's aithyia, but represented by Pliny as nesting in 

 trees, whereas aithyia nested among the rocks near the sea. 

 Gesner gives aithyia as mergus, and repeats Pliny's statement 

 that it nested in trees ; while Belon similarly calls aithyia 

 mergus or plongeon de mer. Gesner seems to have been thinking 

 of the Goosander, and Belon of the divers. Amidst this con- 

 fusion it is best to consider carefully what Aristotle says of 

 the aithyia; it will then appear, as Sundevall suggests, that 

 Aristotle's aithyia was probably none other than some species of 

 Gull which nests among the rocks near the coast early in spring. 

 Larus leucophcsus, the Yellow-legged Herring-Gull, which is very 

 common in Greece, seems to answer well to this description. 

 This bird nests on the rocks near the coast in some parts of 

 Greece, and, according to Seebohm, who visited its breeding- 

 places on an island east of Cephalonia, its eggs are laid before 

 the middle of April. 



It will be seen that the identification of Aristotle's birds 

 attempted to be made in this paper rests partially upon assist- 

 ance given by two assumptions, viz. that the ancient Greek 

 authors referred to the same kinds of birds whenever they 



