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long-lived; yet he is much more lascivious, which shortens his existence.

13. Swine sometimes live for fifteen or even for twenty years; and though their flesh is moister than that of any other animal, yet this seems to have no effect upon their length of life. Of the wild species nothing certain is known.

14. Cats live between six and ten years; an active animal, and of an acrid spirit, whose seed (according to Ælian) burns the female; whence an opinion has prevailed, "that the cat conceives with pain and brings forth with ease." They eat voraciously, and rather swallow than chew their food.

15. Hares and rabbits scarcely reach to seven years. Both creatures are very prolific, carrying at once the young of several conceptions. They differ in this; that the rabbit lives in holes, the hare above ground; and that the flesh of the hare is of a darker colour.

16. Birds in the size of their bodies are far less than beasts. An eagle or a swan by the side of an ox or a horse, and an ostrich by the side of an elephant, appear small.

17. Birds are excellently clad; since for warmth and close fitting to the body, feathers are better than either wool or hair.

18. Birds, though they hatch many at once, yet do not carry them all together in their bodies, but lay the eggs separately; whence the young are provided with a more plentiful aliment.

19. Birds masticate little, if at all, so that their food is often found whole in their crops. But yet they break the shells of fruits, and pick out the kernels. They are thought to be of a hot and strong digestion.

20. The flight of birds is a mixed motion formed by the motion of the limbs and that of carriage, which is the most healthy kind of exercise.

21. Aristotle remarked well concerning the generation of birds (but he did wrong to transfer the observation to other animals), that the seed of the male contributes less to generation, but supplies activity rather than matter; whence in many respects prolific and unprolific eggs are not distinguishable.1

22. Almost all birds come to their full growth the first year or a little after. It is true that the plumage in some, and the bill in others takes years to come to perfection; but not the size of the body.

23. The eagle is considered long-lived, though its exact age is not ascertained. It is reckoned likewise as a sign of longevity, that he casts his beak, which makes him grow young again; whence comes the proverb, "the old age of the eagle."" But perhaps it is not the renewing of the eagle which casts the bill, but the casting of the bill which renews the eagle; for when the beak becomes too hooked, the eagle has great difficulty in feeding.

24. Vultures likewise are said to be long-lived, so as almost to reach a hundred years. Kites also, and all carnivorous birds and birds of prey, are long-lived. The natural age of the hawk cannot be certainly decided, seeing that it leads a servile and degenerate life for the use of man. But tame hawks have sometimes been known to live for thirty years, and wild ones for forty.

1 Arist. de Gen. Anim. ii. 5.

2 Erasm. Adagia, i. 9. 57.

25. The raven likewise is reported to live long, sometimes for one hundred years. It feeds on carrion, is not much on the wing, but of sedentary habits, and with a very dark-coloured flesh. The crow, which is like the raven in every respect, except in size and voice, has a somewhat shorter life; yet it is still reckoned among the long livers.

26. The swan is known for certain to be very longlived, and not unfrequently exceeds one hundred years. It is a bird of most excellent plumage, living on fish, and perpetually carried, and that in running waters.

27. The goose also is one of the long livers; though it feeds on grass and that kind of nourishment. But the wild goose is especially long-lived; so that it passed into a proverb among the Germans, "older than a wild goose."

28. Storks ought to be very long-lived, if the old story is true, that they never went to Thebes, because that city was so often captured. For if this were the case, they either could remember more than one age, or the old ones must have told the story to their young. But all things are full of fables.

29. The story of the phenix again is so intermixed with fable, that if there was any truth in it, it is completely obscured. But there is nothing very remarkable in that which was looked on as a wonder; namely, how it was always accompanied in its flight by a great number of other birds. For this may be seen anywhere if an owl flies in the daytime, or a parrot escapes from a cage.

30. The parrot has certainly been known to live sixty years in England, in addition to its age when brought over. It is a bird which will live on all kinds of meat, masticates its food, and from time to time casts its beak; of a bad and mischievous temper, and with a black flesh.

1 Cf. Pliny, x. 34.

31. The peacock lives twenty years;1 but it does not get the Argus eyes before the third year; it is slow in walking, and has white flesh.

32. The dung-hill cock is lascivious, pugnacious, and short-lived; a very lively bird, that likewise has white flesh.

33. The Indian or Turkey cock lives longer than the former. It is an irascible bird, with very white 'flesh.

34. Wood-pigeons are long-lived, sometimes reaching to fifty years; a bird of the air, that builds and sits on high. Doves and turtle-doves are short-lived, not exceeding eight years.2

35. Pheasants and partridges sometimes live sixteen years. They are birds that have large broods; with flesh rather darker than that of the pullet tribe.

36. The blackbird is said to be the longest lived of all small birds. It is an impudent bird, but a good singer.

37. The sparrow is observed to be very short-lived,8 which in the male bird is attributed to its lasciviousness. The linnet, which is not much bigger than a sparrow, has been known to live for twenty years.

38. Of ostriches nothing certain is known, since those kept in England have unfortunately not been found to live long; of the ibis it is only known that it is long-lived, but its age is not recorded.

1 Cf. Aristot. Hist. An. vi. 9.

2 Id. ib. ix. 7. and Pliny, x. 52.

8 Arist. Hist. An. ix. 7.

39. The age of fish is more uncertain than that of land animals, because from living under water they are less observed. Most of them have no respiration, and therefore the vital spirit is confined more closely; and though they take in some refrigeration through their gills, yet it is not so continual as by breathing.

40. From living in the water they avoid the desiccation and depredation of the external air. Yet there is no doubt but that the external water entering and abiding in the pores of the body is even more prejudicial to life than the air.

41. They are said to be cold-blooded. Some of them are very voracious, and feed even on their own species. The flesh is softer and less firm than that of land creatures; but they fatten exceedingly, so that an immense quantity of oil is extracted from whales.

42. Dolphins are reported to live about thirty years, an experiment having been made on some of them by cutting off their tails. They continue to grow for ten years.1

43. They tell a strange story of fishes, that after some years they diminish much in body, while their heads and tails retain their former size.

44. In Cæsar's fishponds lampreys were sometimes found to live sixty years.2 Certainly from long habit they grew so tame that Crassus the orator wept over one of them.3

45. The pike is found to be the longest lived of all fresh water fish, and sometimes lasts forty years. It is a voracious fish, with a dry and firm flesh.

1 Arist. Hist. An. vi. 12.

2 Pliny, ix. 78.

8 Plutarch, De Utilitate ex inim. c. 5. Cf. Pliny, ix. 81.

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