I Plinies Natural! Hiftorie. 28^ 



A perly but in the AutumnCjas one would lay^figge-feeders : for when thatfeafon is onccpaft^they 

 be called Melancoryphij ?. Black-heads. 



!In like Con, the bird which is named ErithaciiSj [/.Robin jor Redbreaft] in winter ^ the fame is 

 Phoenicurus, p. Rcd-taile] allfummer long. 

 The Houpe or Vpupa (as JEfdyim the Poet faith) chaungeth alfo her hew^jVoicCjand (hape. 

 This is a * naftie and filthie bird otherwife^ both in the manner of feeding, and alfo in neftling ; * por as 

 but a goodly faire creft or combe it hath, that will eafily fold and be plaited : for one while fhee reportet 

 will draw it in^ another while fet it ftiffe upright along the head* manf'^ 



As for the bird Osnanthe, it alfo for certaine daies lyeth clofe and unfeen 5 and namely ^when 

 the Dog-ftarre arifeth, it is hidden : but after the occultation thereof .,commeth abroad & fhew- 

 B eth her felfe: a ifraunge thing, that in thofe daies it fhould doe both. Laff of all, the* Witwall *chlo 

 or Lariotjvyhich is all over yellow^being not feen all winter time, appeareth abbut the funfteeds. ' 



Chap, xxx, 

 ^ oftheUHerles, 



A Bout Cyllene in Arcadia,and no where els,ye fhallfind white Merles or Oufles . Andlbisj 

 about Pelufium onely in ^gypt,is blacke 5 in all places elfc of ^gypt, white. 



Chap, xxxi.' 

 The kind of birds breeding and hatchings 



A LI finging birds, favc onely thofe that arc excepted before, lightly breed not nor lay their 

 eggcs before the fpring ^Equinotftiall in mid-March, or after the Aurumnall, in mid- 

 September. And thofe that they hatch before the fummer Sunf^ead, [/. mid-lunej hardly 

 come to any perfection : but after that time, they doe well enough and live. 



Chap. xxxn. 



^ of the Hdcpnes^ or Kings-fill)ers : and the daies good for navigation 

 rvhich they Jhew, of the Sea-guls and Cormorants, 



ANd in this regard efpecially, namely for breeding after thefummer Sunfleedj the Halcy- 

 onesareof greatname and much marked. The very leas, andthey that failethereiiponj 

 know well when they fit and breed. This very bird fo notable, is little bigger thanafpar- 

 row:for the more part of her pcnnage,blew,intermingled yet among with white and purple fea- 

 thers, having a thin fmall neck and long withail.There is a fecond kmd of them breeding about 

 thefea fide,diffenng both in quantitie and alfo in voice 5 for it fingeth not as the former do which 

 are leiler : for they haunt rivers, and (ing among the flagges and reeds. It is a v^ry great chaunce 

 to fee one of thefe Halcyones, and never are they feene but about the fetting of the ff arre Vir- 

 gilia?, [?. the Brood-hen:] or elie neere mid-fummeror mid-winter : for otherwhiles they 

 will flic aboutalliip,butfoone are they gone againe and hidden. They lay and fit about mid- 

 winter when daies be fhortefl ; and the time whiles they are broodie, is called the Halcyon daies s 

 for during that feafon^the fea is calme and navigable, elpecially in the coaff of Sicilie. In other 

 ports alfo the fea is not fo bbifferous, but more quiet than at other times : but furely the Sicilian 

 fea is very gentle,both in the {freights and affo in the open Ocean . Now about feven daiefe^be- 

 fore mid-winter, that is to fay, in tlie beginning of December, they build , and within as many 

 after,they have hatched.Their nelfsare wonderouily made,in falhion of a round bal : theinouth 

 or cntrie thereof ffandethfomewhat out, and is very narrow, much like untogreat fpunges. A 

 man cannot cut and pierce their neff,with fword or hatchet ; but break they wil with fomc lironc^ 

 knocke,Iike as the drie fome of the fea: and noman could ever find of what they be made.Sbme 

 thinke they are framed of thefharpe pointed prickesof fomefiflies/orof fifh thefe birds live. 

 They come up alfo into frefh rivers within-Iand : and there doe lay ordinarily five e^ges. 



As touchingthe Guls or Sca-cobs,they build inrockes; and the Cormorants both in them, 

 and alfo in trees.They ufually lay foureeggesapeece. The Guls infumraertimcbutthe Cor- 

 morants in the beginning of the fpring. 



Chap. 



