The tench Boolse of 



; 7 . » V-<MAP; XLVIII. 



^ The names andnatures of many birds, 



OF watcr'foulcs.thePhaleridcs are thought in Scleucia of the Parthians.and alfo in Afia, 

 to bcthe daintieft.Likewife,the FcfantHens of Colchis,which hav«^ two eares(as it were) 

 ... - ; confifting of feathers, which they will fet up and lay downe as they lift. The Ginnie oe 

 Turkey Hensjin a part of Affrickc called Numidia be in great rcqueftjas alfo throughout all Ita- 

 lie now adaies, Apifii^ ^tbc moft rdiotous glutton & bcllie-god ot his time-jtaught n^en firft,that 

 the tongue of Phoenicopterus^was a moft fweet and delicatepeecc of meat. The Moore-hen of 

 lonra is much commended and in high eftimation. This bird fo foone as fbc is taken prifonerj H 

 loofeth her voice^and is mute : for othcrwife (Tieis vocall and lowd ynough : and in old time was 

 reputed a rare and fingular bird.But now there be caught of them m Fraunceand Spaine, yea, 

 and amongthe Alp es; where alfo the Plungeons or bald-Ravens bee, which hcretofore were 

 thought proper 6^ peculiar unto the Baleare Iflands : like as the Pyrrhocorax p. the red Raven] 

 with the yellowbill^ was fuppofed to breed onely aniong the Alpes; andwithittheLagopus, a 

 daintie bird and moft pleafant in the difb. And this name it tooke in Greeke^becaufe iris rough- 

 footed and haired like the Hares foot ;otherwife all ovcrwhitejand asbigasaPigeon. Have her 

 outoi the groundjunderwhichfhebreedethjyoufhall hardly gether to feed: neither will (he be 

 made tamCjlive flie never fb long : kill her once, thebodie prelently will rot and putrifie. There 

 is another befides of that name, and differcth from Quailes onely in bignelfe, for it is gi^eater | 

 than the Quaile : and with a yellow faucc of faffron it is a moft delicate peece of meat. MXgna- 

 tim Calvinm goveinour of the parts about the Alpes, reporteth, that hee hath feene there the 

 Ibis,a bird proper to the land of iEgypt, 



CHAf. xnXi 

 ^ of new birds yiindfuch as are holden for fabulous, 



DVring the civile warres httmcnc 0th and Fitcllms^ and namely, about the time of the 

 journey or battcll at Bebriacum,beyond the Po: there were thefe new-birds (for fo they 

 be called ftillatthisday)6rought into Italic, LikethcybecoThrufhesorMaviffes/omc- K 

 what lefTe than Houfedoves^plcafant in the eating*The Baleare Iflands fends us another Porphy- 

 riojbetter than that *beforenamed. Where the Buzards alfojakind of Hawke,are held for excel- 

 lent meat,and ferved up at the table. Likewif^ the Vipio, for fo they call the leffe kind of Crane. 

 As for the foules called Pegafi,headed likc'horfesjand the Griffon s,which are fuppofed to have 

 long eares,and a hooked bill, I take them to bee mcere fables : and yet they fay^ tliat the Pe^afi 

 ftiould be in Scythia,and the Griffons in /Ethyopia.Moreover^Itl^^inkc the fame of the Trago- 

 panades, which many men affirmetobcc greater than thoiEgle'^fiaving crooked homes like a" 

 Ram on either fide of the head^of the colour of y ron^and the head onely red. As tbuching the 

 birds Syrenes,! will never beleeve there be any fuch,let Dir/o the father oiclitarchm that renow- 

 med writer,fay what he will : who avoucheth for a truth, that they be in India : and that with their £ 

 finging they will bring folke afleepCjand then flic upon them and tcarc them in peeees.He that 

 will give credite to theic fables,may even as well beleeve that dragons forfooth taught Melamf us 

 by licking his eares, how to underftand the language of birds when they chaunt and fing upon 

 treesjor eric and chirpein the aire:likewife the tales that Dmomtm telletb^who naraeth certain 

 birds3 ofwhofebloud mingled together,andfufFered to corruptjthere is engendered a ferpenr, 

 which whofbever eatethjfhallknow what birds fay one to another in their Ipecch: and namely, 

 theftrange things that hee telleth of the Larke above the reft. For verily without theie fabulous 

 Iies,mens heads be occupied ynough, and too much tOj about the Auguries onely and prefages 

 of birdsj that they have no need to bufie and trouble their braines about thefe toies. Bemer rria- 

 keth mention of certaine birds called Scopes : but 1 cannot conceiveihofe Satyricall geiiicula- ^ 

 tions of theirs like Antikes when they are perched, which fo many men talke of : neither doe I 

 thinkc othcrwife,but that thefe birds are out of knowledge now adaies. And therefore better it 

 is fajj:€ to write of thofe which we know. . 



