And so the raven is at war with the bull and the ass, for it
flies at them, and strikes them, and pecks at their eyes; and so
with the eagle and the heron, for the former, having crooked talons,
attacks the latter, and the latter usually succumbs to the attack; and
so the merlin with the vulture; and the crex with the eleus-owl, the
blackbird, and the oriole (of this latter bird, by the way, the
story goes that he was originally born out of a funeral pyre): the
cause of warfare is that the crex injures both them and their young.
The nuthatch and the wren are at war with the eagle; the nuthatch
breaks the eagle's eggs, so the eagle is at war with it on special
grounds, though, as a bird of prey, it carries on a general war all
round. The horse and the anthus are enemies, and the horse will
drive the bird out of the field where he is grazing: the bird feeds on
grass, and sees too dimly to foresee an attack; it mimics the
whinnying of the horse, flies at him, and tries to frighten him
away; but the horse drives the bird away, and whenever he catches it
he kills it: this bird lives beside rivers or on marsh ground; it
has pretty plumage, and finds its without trouble.
Pages:
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492