[80]For the connection between ἄκανθα and ἀκαλανθίς see Conington’s note on Georg. iii. 338.
[81]Theophrastus, for example, applies it to the Egyptian mimosa, the thorns of which lately proved so damaging to our troops in the Soudan. (Lenz, Botanik der Griechen, p. 735.)
[82]There is another reading, ‘et acanthida.’
[83]Κακόβιοι καὶ κακόχροοι, φωνὴν μέντοι λιγυρὰν ἔχουσιν.—Hist. Anim. ix. 17.
[84]A sibilant trill is probably what is meant in a passage of the Greek Anthology (i. 175), λιγυρὸν βομβεῦσιν ἀκανθίδες; suggesting the Grasshopper Warbler (see [p. 154]), or the Sedge-warbler.
[85]Georg. i. 356 foll. I quote this time Mr. R. D. Blackmore’s admirable rhyming version.
Ere yet the lowering storm breaks o’er the land
A sullen groundswell heaves along the strand,
On mountain heights dry snapping sounds are heard,
The booming shores bedrizzled are and blurred,