Other signs of mutation in the atmosphere they discovered in almost every part of nature; for example, when bubbles rose on the surface of a river they looked for a fall of rain; as also when small land-birds were seen drenching their plumage; when the crow was beheld washing his head upon the rocky beach,[[1668]] or the raven flapping his wings, while with his voice he imitated amidst his croaking the pattering of drops of rain; when the peasant was awakened in the morning by the cry of the passing crane,[[1669]] or the shrill note of the chaffinch within his dwelling. Flights of island birds flocking to the continent,[[1670]] preceded drought; as a number of jackdaws and ravens flying up and down, and imitating the scream of the hawk, did rain. The incessant shrieks of the screech-owl and the vehement cawing of the crow, heard during a serene night, foretold the approach of storms. The barn-door fowl and the house-dog also played the part of soothsayers, teaching their master to dread impending storms by rolling themselves in the dust. Of similar import was the flocking of geese with noise to their food, or the skimming of swallows along the surface of the water.[[1671]] Again, when troops of dolphins were seen rolling near the shore, or oxen licking their fore-hoofs, or looking southwards, or, with a suspicious air, snuffing the elements,[[1672]] or going bellowing to their stalls; when wolves approached the homesteads; when flies bit sharp,[[1673]] or frogs croaked vociferously, or the ruddock, or land-toad, crept into the water; when the salamander lizard appeared, and the note of the green-frog was heard in the trees, the rustic donned his capote, and prepared, like Anaxagoras at Olympia,[[1674]] for a shower. The flight of the storm-birds, kepphoi,[[1675]] was supposed to indicate a tempest from the point of the heavens towards which they flew. When in bright and windless weather clouds of cobwebs,[[1676]] floated through the air, the husbandman anticipated a drenching for his fields, as also when earthen pots and brass pans emitted sparks; when lamps spat; when the wick made mushrooms;[[1677]] when a halo encircled its flame,[[1678]] or when the flame itself was dusky. The housewife was forewarned of coming hail-storms, generally from the north, by a profusion of bright sparks appearing on the surface of her charcoal fire; when her feet swelled she knew that the wind would blow from the south.[[1679]] Heaps of clouds like burnished copper rising after rain in the west portended fine weather; as did likewise the tops of lofty mountains, as Athos, Ossa, and Olympos, appearing sharply defined against the sky; while an apparent augmentation in the height of promontories and the number of islands foreshowed wind.
[1621]. De Re Rusticâ, i. 1. Cf. Colum. i. 1.
[1622]. Xenoph. Œconom. xx. 22, sqq.
[1623]. Cf. Plat. De Legg. t. vii. p. 111. t. viii. p. 103.
[1624]. Xenoph. Œconom. xvi. 1, sqq.
[1625]. The sight of a rich and thriving neighbour operated likewise as a spur to his industry:—
Εἰς ἕτερον γάρ τίς τε ἰδὼν ἔργοιο χατίζων
Πλούσιον ὅς σπεύδει μέν ἀρόμμεναι ἠδὲ φυτεύειν,
Οἶκον τ᾽ εὖ θέσθαι· ζηλοῖ δὲ τε γείτονα γείτων