They say that the panther
has found out that wild animals are fond of the scent it emits;
that, when it goes a-hunting, it hides itself; that the other
animals come nearer and nearer, and that by this stratagem it can
catch even animals as swift of foot as stags.
The Egyptian ichneumon, when it sees the serpent called the asp,
does not attack it until it has called in other ichneumons to help; to
meet the blows and bites of their enemy the assailants beplaster
themselves with mud, by first soaking in the river and then rolling on
the ground.
When the crocodile yawns, the trochilus flies into his mouth and
cleans his teeth. The trochilus gets his food thereby, and the
crocodile gets ease and comfort; it makes no attempt to injure its
little friend, but, when it wants it to go, it shakes its neck in
warning, lest it should accidentally bite the bird.
The tortoise, when it has partaken of a snake, eats marjoram; this
action has been actually observed. A man saw a tortoise perform this
operation over and over again, and every time it plucked up some
marjoram go back to partake of its prey; he thereupon pulled the
marjoram up by the roots, and the consequence was the tortoise died.
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