[174]The “mother of the quails.” Frederic II., in his work, De Arte Venandi, calls the “rallus,” or “rail,” the “leader of the quails.”
[176]This bird in reality builds no nest, but lays its eggs in holes on the water side. The objects taken for its nest are a zoophyte called _halcyonium_ by Linnæus, and similar in shape to a nest.
[177]Not moss, Cuvier says, but blades of grass and the silken fibres of the poplar and other aquatic trees.
[178]“Without feet.” This was supposed to be the case with the martinet, the _Hirundo apus_ of Linnæus.
[179]By nestling in the dust. Throwing dust over the body was one of the ancient modes of purification.
[180]“Lustrant,” “perform a lustration.” This was done by the Romans with a branch of laurel or olive, and sometimes bean-stalks were used.
[181]This is the jay, the Corvus glandarius of Linnæus; but they are not more apt at speaking than the other kinds.
[183]Britannicus, the son of Claudius, and Nero, his stepson.
[185]Festus says that the “fane of Rediculus was without the Porta Capena; it was so called because Hannibal, when on the march from Capua, turned back (redierit) at that spot, being alarmed at certain portentous visions.”
[186]Albert Magnus says that swallows _can_ be tamed.
[187]The trunk of the gnat, Cuvier says, contains five silken and pointed threads, which together have the effect of a sting.
[188]They respire by orifices in the sides of the body, known to naturalists as _stigmata_. The whole body, Cuvier says, forms in a measure, a system of lungs.
[189]The various noises made by insects are in reality not the voice, as they are not produced by air passing through a larynx.
[190]They have a nourishing fluid, which is of a white color, and acts in place of blood.
[191]All insects have a brain, a sort of spinal marrow, and nerves; they have no fat except when in the chrysalis state; but they have a fibrous flesh of a whitish color. They have also viscera, trachea, nerves, and a most complicated organization.
[192]Cuvier says that the three kinds of cells are absolutely necessary, and that they do not depend on the greater or less abundance. The _king_ of the ancients is what we know as the _queen_ bee.
[193]They do not work, but are the males of the hive.