C R O 
ters, the river fpreading into three ftreams, as it enters 
the Hudfon. 
CROTO'NA, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na¬ 
ples, and province of Calabria Ultra : twelve miles eaft- 
fouth-eaft of St. Severina. It is famed in clailical hiT- 
tory as the Crotona of ancient geography, then a noble 
city of the Brutii, built by the Acheans, an hundred 
and fifty ftadia from Licinium, and in the neighbourhood 
of Metapontum. It was twelve miles in compafs be¬ 
fore the arrival of Pyrrhus into Italy ; but after the de- 
folation produced by that war, fcarcely half of it was 
inhabited. The citadel on one fide hung over the fea, 
on the other towards the land. It was naturally ftrong 
from its fituation, but afterwards walled round ; on 
which fide it was taken by Dionyfius by ftratagem, by 
means of the rocks behind it. Pythagoras, after his 
long peregrinations in fearch of knowledge, fixed his re- 
fidence in this place. This incomparable fage fpent 
the latter part of his life in training up difciples to the 
rigid exercife of fublime and moral virtue, and inftruft- 
ing the Crotonites in the true arts of government, fuch 
as alone can infure happinefs, glory, and independence. 
Under the influence of this philofophy, the Crotonites 
inured their bodies to frugality and hardffiips, and their 
minds to felf-denial and patriotic difintereftednefs. 
Their virtues were the admiration of Greece, where it 
was a current proverb, that the laft of the Crotonites 
was the firft of the Greeks. In one Olympiad, feven of 
the vigors in the games were citizens of Crotona ; and 
the name of Milo is almoft as famous as that of Her¬ 
cules. The vigour of the men and beauty of the wo¬ 
men were afcribed to the climate, which was believed to 
be endowed with qualities peculiarly favourable to the 
human fyftem. Their phyficians were in high repute ; 
and among thefe, Alcmeon and Democides' 1 rendered 
themfelves moll confpicuous. Alcmeon was the firft 
who dared to amputate a limb ; and alfo the firft writer 
who thought of inculcating moral precepts under the 
amufing cloak of apologues. This invention is more 
commonly attributed to ^Efop, as he was remarkably 
ingenious in this fpecies of compofition. Democides 
was f-mious for his attachment to his native foil. Though 
earefiedand enriched by the king of Perfia, whofe queen 
he had fnatched from the jaws of death, he abandoned 
wealth and honours, and by ftratagem efcaped to the 
humble comforts of a private life at Crotona. The Py¬ 
thagoreans are faid to have difcovered that difpofition of 
the folar fyftem, which, with fome modifications, was 
revived by Copernicus. Theano, the wife of Pythago¬ 
ras, and many other women, emulated the virtues of 
their hufbands. In thofe fortunate days the ftate of 
Crotona was moll flourifhing. Of all the colonies fent 
out from Greece, this alone furniihed fuccour to the 
mother country when invaded by the Perfians. By its 
avenging arms the Sybarites were punifhed for their 
ftiameful degeneracy ; but victory proved fatal to the 
conquerors ; for riches, and all their pernicious attend¬ 
ants, infirm a ted themfelves into Crotona, and foon con¬ 
taminated the purity, of its principles. Not long after, 
the Locrians, who were lefs corrupted, defeated them 
on the banks of the Sagra, and reduced the republic to 
diftrefs and penury. '3 his reftored the remaining Cro¬ 
tonites to their prrftine vigour of mind, and enabled 
them to make a brave though unfuccefsful refi.ftaiice, 
when attacked by Dionyfius of Syracufe. They Inhered 
much in the war v with Pyrrhus, and, by repeated misfor¬ 
tunes, decreafed in Ilrength and numbers, from age to 
age, down to that of Hannibal, when they could not 
raufter 20,000 inhabitants. Thisfmall population being 
incapable of manning the extenfive works created in the 
days of profperity, Crotona was taken by the Carthagi¬ 
nians, and its citizens tranfported to Lccri. The Ro¬ 
mans fent a colony hither two hundred years before 
Chrift. In the Gothic war, this city rendered itlelf 
confpicuous by its fidelity to Juftinian, and Tetila be¬ 
lie go d it in vain. 
C R O 399 
CROTO'NE, f. [from the tick.] An excref- 
cence on trees, produced by an infett like a tick; and by 
metaphor applied to tumours and fmall fungous excref- 
cences on the perioftium. 
CROTAPHA'G A,/, the Ani, in ornithology, a ge¬ 
nus of birds belonging to the order of picae; the gene¬ 
ric characters of w hich are as follow : bill comprelfed, 
fem ; -oval, arched, and keel-ftiaped on the ridge, the up¬ 
per mandible angied at both margins ; noftrils round and 
pervious. Only, four fpecies of this bird have as yet 
been difcovered. 
1. Crotophaga arft, the common ani: rather larger 
than a blackbird ; length thirteen inches and a half. 
Its bill is black, of a lingular fhape, about an inch in 
length, hooked at the end, much comprefted, and riling 
to a lharp ridge at top. The general colour of the plu-- 
mnge is black glofled with purple, and about the neck 
faintly tinged with glofly green; the bafe of the bill is 
furniihed with black bridles, and the eye-lids have long 
hairs like eye-lalhes ; the tail is greatly wedge-fhaped, 
and fix inches long; the- legs are black; and the toes 
placed two before and two behind. Thefe birds are 
found in Jamaica, St. Domingo, and other i-flands in the 
Weft Indies; alfo at Cayenne, and other parts of South 
America. They cannot withftand the violence of the 
wind, and hurricanes deftroy numbers of them. They 
inhabit the.cultivated grounds, and are feldom feen in 
theforefts. They have no fong ; it is rather a whiftling 
or chirping; fometimes this becomes more varied, but 
it is always harlh and difagreeable ; it receives different 
inflexions according to the paflions which incite it. If 
the bird perceives a dangerous animal, it informs its 
companions by a very diftintt feream, fomewhat fimilar 
to the Englilh jay, which it prolongs or repeats until 
its apprehenlions are quieted ; its fears are molt remark¬ 
able when it has young, for then it flutters and hovers. 
over its neft. Thefe birds live in fociety, and feldom 
part from one another; even previous to their hatching - 
we fee feveral males and females working together 
the conftruiftion of the neft, and afterwards the females- 
hatch belide each other, each fitting on her eggs and 
rearing her young in the fame neft. This harmony is 
the more admirable, fince love commonly dilfolves all 
other ties but what it forms. Their amours commence 
early ; in February the males ardently court the females, 
and in the following month they are bufy in preparing 
for incubation. They breed in lhrubs, coffee-trees, and 
thick hedges; placing their nefts in the cleft where the 
ftems divide. When feveral females affociate together, 
the one readieft to lay does not wait till the neft be com¬ 
pleted, but fits on her eggs while the reft are employed, 
in enlarging the fabric. They employ a precaution, 
which is unufual with Other birds, viz. to cover their 
eggs with leaves and grafs-ftalks, as faft as they lay 
them; and, during incubation, they cover their eggs in 
the fame manner, whenever they leave them in queft of 
food. The females which thus hatch befide each other- 
are not quarrelfome ; like hens that breed in the fame 
crib, they take their ftations in order; fome, however, 
before they lay, make a.partition in the neft .with (talks . 
of herbs, to contain their own eggs; but, if the eggs 
happen to be jumbled together, one female hatches 
them indifcriminately ; Ihe collects them, heaps them, 
and covers the whole with leaves, fo as to ditfufe the 
heat equally, and prevent its diffipation. Each female 
lays feveral eggs ; they build their neft very folid, 
though rude, .with the fmall ftems of filamentous plants, 
the branches of the citron-tree, and other fhrubs ; the 
infide only is. covered with tender leaves, that loon wi¬ 
ther.; and .upon this bed the eggs are depofited. The' 
nefts are wide, and much raifed at the margin ; forae-i 
times the diameter is more than eighteen inches, but its 
fize always depends on the number of females it is 
deftined to receive. It would be difficult to decide with - 
accuracy.whether all the females contained in the Ijune, 
neft have each their male ; perhaps thefe birds are po¬ 
lygamous. 
