The pelican is similar in appearance to the swan, and nobody would imagine there was any difference between them, were it not for the fact that under the throat there is a sort of second crop. In this the ever-insatiate animal stows everything away, till the capacity of this pouch is quite astonishing. Having finished its search for prey, it discharges bit by bit what it has thus stowed away, and reconveys it by a sort of ruminating process into its real stomach. The part of Gallia that lies nearest to the Northern Ocean produces this bird.
We hear of a singular kind of bird in the Hercynian Forest, in Germany, the feathers of which shine at night like fire; the other birds there have nothing remarkable beyond the celebrity which generally attaches to objects situated at a distance.
During the civil wars that took place at Bebriacum, beyond the river Padus, the “new birds” were introduced into Italy—for by that name they are still known. They resemble the thrush in appearance, are a little smaller than the pigeon in size, and of an agreeable flavor. The Balearic islands also send us a porphyrio or flamingo, as well as the buteo, a kind of hawk, held in high esteem for the table, and the vipio, the name given to a small kind of crane.
I look upon the birds as fabulous which are called “pegasi,” and are said to have a horse’s head; as also the griffons, with long ears and a hooked beak. The same is my opinion, also, as to the tragopan; many writers, however, assert that it is larger than the eagle, has curved horns on the temples, and a plumage of iron color, with the exception of the head, which is purple. Nor do the sirens obtain any greater credit with me, although Dinon, the father of Clearchus, a celebrated writer, asserts that they exist in India, and that they charm men by their song, and, having first lulled them to sleep, tear them to pieces. The person, however, who may think fit to believe in these tales, may probably not refuse to believe also that dragons licked the ears of Melampodes, and bestowed upon him the power of understanding the language of birds; or what Democritus says, when he gives the names of certain birds, by the mixture of whose blood a serpent is produced, the person who eats of which will be able to understand the language of birds; as well as the statements which the same writer makes relative to one bird in particular, known as the “galerita,” or crested lark—indeed, the science of augury is already too much involved in embarrassing questions, without these fanciful reveries.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ART OF CRAMMING POULTRY.—AVIARIES.
The people of Delos were the first to cram poultry, and to originate that abominable mania for devouring fattened birds, larded with the grease of their own bodies. I find in the ancient sumptuary regulations as to banquets, that this was forbidden for the first time by a law of the consul Caius Fannius, eleven years before the Third Punic War; by which it was ordered that no bird should be served at table beyond a single pullet, and that not fattened; an article which has since made its appearance in all the sumptuary laws. A method, however, has been devised of evading it, by feeding poultry upon food that has been soaked in milk: prepared in this fashion, they are considered still more delicate. Not all pullets are looked upon as equally good for the purposes of fattening, but only those are selected which have a fatty skin about the neck. Then come all the arts and affectations of the kitchen—that the thighs may have a nice plump appearance, that the bird may be properly divided down the back, and that poultry may be brought to such a size that a single leg shall fill a whole platter. The Parthians have taught their fashions to our cooks; yet after all, in spite of their refinements in luxury, no article is found to please equally in every part, for in one it is the thigh, and in another the breast that is esteemed.
The first person who invented aviaries for the reception of all kinds of birds was Marcus Lænius Strabo, a member of the equestrian order, who resided at Brundisium. In his time we thus began to imprison animals to which Nature had assigned the heavens as their element.
But more remarkable than anything else in this respect, is the story of the dish of Clodius Æsopus, the tragic actor, which was valued at one hundred thousand sesterces, and in which were served up nothing but birds that had been remarkable for their song, or their imitation of the human voice, and he purchased each of them at the price of six thousand sesterces, being induced to this folly by no other pleasure than that in these he might eat the closest imitators of man; never for a moment reflecting that his own immense fortune had been acquired by the advantages of his voice; a parent right worthy of the son of whom we have already made mention as swallowing pearls. It would not be very easy to decide which of the two was guilty of the greatest baseness, unless, indeed, we admit that it was less unseemly to banquet upon the most costly of all the productions of Nature, than to devour tongues which had given utterance to the language of man.
CHAPTER XXII.
PECULIARITIES OF ANIMALS.
The salamander, an animal like a lizard in shape, and with a body starred all over, never comes out except during heavy showers, and disappears the moment it becomes fine. This animal is so intensely cold as to extinguish fire by its contact, in the same way as ice does. It spits forth a milky matter from its mouth; and from whatever part of the human body is touched with this, all the hair falls off, and the part assumes the appearance of leprosy.