previous next

CHAP. 44.—THE MELANCORYPHUS, THE ERITHACITS, AND THE PHŒNICURUS.

The change is different that takes place in the ficedula,1 for this bird changes its shape as well as its colour. "Ficedula" is the name by which it is called in autumn, but not after that period; for then it is called "melancoryphus."2 In the same manner, too, the erithacus3 of the winter is the "phœnicurus" of the summer. The hoopoe also, according to the poet Æschylus, changes its form; it is a bird that feeds upon filth4 of all kinds, and is remarkable for its twisted topknot, which it can contract or elevate at pleasure along the top of the head.

1 Cuvier supposes that this is one of the fly-catchers; the "Muscicapa atricapilla" of Linnæus, which changes in appearance entirely after the breeding season.

2 The "black-head."

3 Cuvier thinks that this is the wall nightingale, the Motacilla phœnicurus of Linnæus, which is not seen in winter. On the other hand, the Motacilla rubecula of Linnæus, or red-throat, is only seen during the winter, and being like the other bird, may have been taken for it, and named "phœnicurus."

4 This is not the case. Aristotle only says that it builds its nest of human ordure; a story probably without any foundation, but still prevalent among the French peasantry.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Latin (Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, 1906)
hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

hide References (5 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: