[l. 695], Crane. “Cap. lix. The Crane is a great byrde / and whan they flye, they be a greate many of them to-gyder in ordre, and a-monge them they chose a kynge the whiche they obey / whan the crane sleepth, than standeth he vpon one fote with his hede vnder his winges / & ther is one that kepeth the wache with his hede vpryght to-wardes the ayre / & whan they ete, than the kynge kepeth the wache fore them, and than the cranes ete without sorowe. Aristotiles sayth that aboue Egipt in farre londes come the cranes in the winter / and there the fight with the pygmeis as before is shewed in the .c. & .xvi. chapter.*
The Operacion.
Rasi. The flesshe of him is grosse, & not good to disiest / & it maketh melancolious blode. ¶ The crane that is kille in somer shalbe hanged vp one
daye / and in winter season .ij. dayes or it be eten, and than it is the more disiestious.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe. Pt. II. (n. iij.)
[*] Pigmeis be men & women, & but one cubite longe, dwellinge in the mountaynes of ynde | they be full growen at their third yere, & at their seuen yere they be olde | & they gader them in may a grete company togeder, & arme them in theyr best maner | and than go they to the water syde, & where-so-euer they fynde any cranes nestis they breake all the egges, & kyll all the yonges that they fynde | and this they do because the cranes do them many displeasures, & fight with them oftentymes, & do them great scathe | but these folke couer their houses with the cranes feders & egshels. fol. h. ij. back.
[l. 695], peacock. “Paon revestu. A Peacocke flayed, parboyled, larded, and stucke thicke with Cloues; then roasted, with his feet wrapped vp to keepe them from scorching; then couered againe with his owne skinne as soone as he is cold, and so vnderpropped that, as aliue, hee seemes to stand on his legs: In this equipage a gallant, and daintie seruice.” —1611, Cotgrave.
[l. 695], Peacock. “Pauo / the pecocke is a very fayre byrde / and it hath a longe necke, and hath on his hede feders lyke a lytell crowne / he hathe a longe tayle the whyche he setteth on hye very rycheli, but whan he loketh on hys lothly fete, he lateth his tayle sinke. Be nyght, whan the Pecocke can nat see hymselfe, than he cryeth ernefully, and thynketh that he hath lost hys beautye / and with his crye he feareth all serpentes / in suche maners that they dare nat abyde in those places whereas they here hym crye / and whan the pecocke clymmeth hye, that is a token of rayne ... also the pecocke is envious & wylle nat knowe his yonges tyll that they haue the crowne of feders vpon theyr hede, and that they begynne to lyken hym.... The flesshe of hym will nat lightely rote nor stynke / and it is euyll flesshe to disiest, for it can nat lightely be rosted or soden ynough.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe (o. iv.), Cap. xci.
[l. 696], Heironsew. Ardea is a byrde that fetcheth his mete in ye water, & yet he byldeth vpon the hyest trees that he can. This birde defendeth his yonges from ye goshawke, castinge his dounge vpon him / & than the fedders of the goshawke rote of ye dounge of ardea as far as it touchet[h]. Nob. Lyfe, L. ij.
[l. 696], Partrich. “Cap. xcvi. Perdix is a byrde very wylye, & the cockes feght oftentymes for the hennes. and these byrdes flye of no heght / and they put theyr hedes in the erthe, & they thinke that they than be well hyden, for whan she seeth nobody she thinketh that nobody seeth here. & she bredeth out other partriches egges / for whan she hath lost her eges, than she steleth other egges & bredeth them / & whan they be hatched that they can go on the grounde / than this damme setteth them out of the nest / but whan they be a-brode, & here the wyse of theyr owne dammes, incontinent they leue theyr damme that brought them up, & go to their owne natural damme / & than she that brought them vp hath lost her labour. The Operacion. The flesshe of a partriche is most holsomest of all wylde fowles, the brest & vppermoste parte of the bodie is the swetest, & hathe the best sauoure / but the hinder parte is nat so swete.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, sign. p. i. & back.
[l. 698], Lark. Alauda: the larke is a lytel birde, & with euery man well beknowen through his songe / in the somer thei begynneth to singe in the dawning of the day, geuynge knowlege to the people of the cominge of the daye; and in fayre weder he reioyseth sore / but whan it is rayne weder, than it singeth selden / he singeth nat sittinge on the grownde nouther / but whan he assendith vpwarde, he syngeth mereli / & in the descending it falleth to the grownde lyke a stone. The Operacion. The larkes flesshe hardeneth the beli, and the brothe of hym that he was soden in, slaketh the beli. L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, sign. L. iv. back, and L. i.