§3.1#2τίκτει δ᾽ οὐδ᾽ αὐτὴ πολλὰ λίαν, ἀλλὰ τέτταρα τὸ πλεῖστον.
The kestrel itself does not lay very many either, but four at most.
ὁ δὲ κόκκυξ ὀλιγοτόκον ἐστὶν οὐκ ὢν γαμψώνυχος ὅτι ψυχρὸς τὴν φύσιν ἐστίν δηλοῖ δ᾽ ἡ δειλία τοῦ ὀρέου), τὸ δὲ σπερματικὸν ζῷον δεῖ θερμὸν καὶ ὑγρὸν εἶναι.
But the cuckoo is a bird that lays few eggs despite not having crooked talons, because it is cold in its nature (as the cowardice of the bird shows); for the seminal animal must be warm and moist.
ὅτι δὲ δειλόν, φανερόν· ὑπό τε γὰρ τῶν ὀρνέων διώκεται πάντων καὶ ἐν ἀλλοτρίαις τίκτει νεοτιαῖς.
And that it is cowardly is clear; for it is pursued by all birds and lays its eggs in others' nests.
τὰ δὲ περιστερώδη δύο ὡς τὰ πολλὰ τίκτειν εἴωθεν· οὔτε γὰρ μονοτόκοι εἰσίν (συθεὶς γὰρ μονοτόκος ὄρνις πλὴν ὁ κόκκυξ, καὶ οὗτος ἐνίοτε διτοκεῖ) οὔτε πολλὰ τίκτουσιν, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις δύο ἢ τρία τὰ πλεῖστα γεννῶσι, τὰ δὲ πολλὰ δύο· οὗτοι γὰρ οἱ ἀριθμοὶ μεταξὺ τοῦ ἑνὸς καὶ πολλῶν.
Pigeon-like birds are accustomed to lay two eggs for the most part; for they are neither layers of single eggs (indeed almost no bird lays a single egg except the cuckoo, and even this one sometimes lays two) nor do they lay many, but often produce two, or three at most, and for the most part two; for these numbers are intermediate between one and many.
ὅτι δὲ τοῖς πολυγόνοις τρέπεται εἰς τὸ σπέρμα ἡ τροφή, φανερὸν ἐκ τῶν συμβαινόντων.
That in prolific animals the nourishment is diverted into semen is clear from what happens.
τῶν τε γὰρ δένδρων τὰ πολλὰ πολυκαρπήσαντα λίαν ἐξαυαίνεται μετὰ τὴν φοράν, ὅταν μὴ ὑπολειφθῇ τῷ σώματι τροφή, καὶ τὰ ἐπέτεια ταὐτὸ πάσχειν ἔοικεν, οἷον τά τε χεδροπὰ καὶ ὁ σῖτος καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα.
For most trees, after bearing much fruit, dry up completely after bearing, when no nourishment is left in their body, and annual plants seem to suffer the same, such as leguminous plants, corn, and other such things.
τὴν γὰρ τροφὴν ἀναλίσκουσιν εἰς τὸ σπέρμα πᾶσαν· ἔστι γὰρ πολύσπερμον τὸ γένος αὐτῶν.
For they consume all their nourishment for seed; for their kind is rich in seed.
καὶ τῶν ἀλεκτορίδων ἔνιαι πολυτοκήσασαι λίαν οὕτως ὥστε καὶ δύο τεκεῖν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, μετὰ τὴν πολυτοκίαν ἀπέθανον.
And some fowls, after laying so excessively that they even laid two in a day, died after this excessive laying.
ὑπέρινοι γὰρ γίνονται καὶ οἱ ὄρίθες καὶ τὰ φυτά· τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὸ πάθος ὑπερβολὴ περιττώματος ἐκρίσεως.
For both birds and plants become over-purged (hyperinoi); and this condition is an excess of the excretion of residue.
αἴτιον δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτον πάθος καὶ τῷ λέοντι τῆς ἀγονίας τῆς ὕστερον· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρότερον τίκτει πέντε ἢ ἕξ, εἶτα τῷ ὑστέρω ἔτει τέτταρας, πάλιν δὲ τρεῖς σκύμνους, εἶτα τὸν ἐχόμενον ἀριθμὸν ἕως ἑνός, εἶτ᾽ οὐθεν ὡς ἐξαναλισκομένου τοῦ περιττώματος καὶ ἅμα τῆς ἡλικίας ληγούσης φθίνοντος τοῦ σπέρματος.
Such a condition is also the cause of the subsequent sterility in the lion; for at first it produces five or six, then in the following year four, again three cubs, then the next number down to one, then none, as the residue is consumed and at the same time the semen decreases as age comes to an end.
τίσι μὲν οὖν γίνεται τὰ ὑπηνέμια τῶν ὀρωίθων, ἔτι δὲ ποῖοι πολύγονοι καὶ ὀλιγόγονοι αὐτῶν, καὶ διὰ τίνας αἰτίας, εἴρηται.
Why wind-eggs occur in birds, and which of them are prolific and which lay few, and for what causes, has been said.
γίνεται δὲ τὰ ὑπηνέμια, καθάπερ εἴρηται καὶ πρότερον, διὰ τὸ ὑπάρχειν ἐν τῷ θήλει τὴν ὕλην τὴν σπερματικήν, τοῖς δ᾽ ὀρνέοις μὴ γίνεσθαι τὴν τῶν καταμηνίων ἀπόκρισιν ὥσπερ τοῖς ζῳοτόκοις τοῖς ἐναίμοις· πᾶσι γὰρ τούτοις γίνεται, τοῖς μὲν πλείων, τοῖς δ᾽ ἐλάττων, τοῖς δὲ τοσαύτη τὸ πλῆθος ὥστε ὅσον γε ἐπισημαίνειν.
Wind-eggs occur, as was also said before, because the seminal matter is present in the female, and in birds the menstrual discharge does not occur as it does in blooded viviparous animals; for in all of these it occurs, in some more, in others less, and in some in such quantity as merely to show a sign.
ὁμοίως δ᾽ οὐδὲ τοῖς ἰχθύσι, καθάπερ τοῖς ὄρνισιν· διὸ καὶ τούτοις γίνεται μὲν ἄνευ ὀχείας σύστασις κυημάτων, ὁμοίως καὶ τοῖς ὄρνισιν, ἧττον δ’ ἐπιδήλως· ψυχροτέρα γὰρ ἡ φύσις αὐτῶν.
Similarly, it does not occur in fish, just as in birds; wherefore in these too there occurs a formation of embryos without mating, in the same way as in birds, but less conspicuously; for their nature is colder.
ἡ δὲ γινομένη τοῖς ζῳοτόκοις ἀπόκρισις τῶν καταμηνίων συωίσταται τοῖς ὄρνισι κατὰ τοὺς ἱκνουμένους χρόνους τοῦ περιττώματος, καὶ διὰ τὸ τὸν τόπον εἶναι θερμὸν τὸν πρὸς τῷ διαξώματι τελειοῦται τοῖς μεγέθεσιν.
The menstrual discharge that occurs in viviparous animals accumulates in birds at the proper times of the residue, and because the place near the diaphragm is warm, it is completed in size.
πρὸς δὲ τὴν γένεσιν ἀτελῆ καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τῶν ἰχθύων ὁμοίως ἄνευ τῆς τοῦ ἄρρενος γονῆς· ἡ δ’ αἰτία τούτων εἴρηται πρότερον.
But with respect to generation, both these and the embryos of fish are similarly incomplete without the semen of the male; the cause of these things has been said before.
οὐ γίνεται δὲ τὰ ὑπηνέμια τοῖς πτητικοῖς τῶν ὀρίθων διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν δι᾽ ἥνπερ οὐδὲ πολυτοκεῖ τὰ τοιαῦτα· τοῖς γὰρ γαμψώνυξιν ὀλίγον τὸ περίττωμα, καὶ προσδέονται τοῦ ἄρρενος πρὸς τὴν ὁρμὴν τῆς τοῦ σπέρματος ἐκκρίσεως.
Wind-eggs do not occur in those birds that are good flyers for the very same cause for which such birds are not prolific; for in those with crooked talons the residue is small, and they need the male for the impulse to discharge the semen.
πλείω δὲ τὰ ὑπηνέμια γίνεται τῶν γόνῳ γινομένων, ἐλάττω δὲ τὸ μέγεθος διὰ μίαν αἰτίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτήν· διὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἀτελῆ εἶναι ἐλάττω τὸ μέγεθος, διὰ δὲ τὸ τὸ μέγεθος ἔλαττον πλείω τὸν ἀριθμόν.
Wind-eggs are more numerous than those produced by mating, but smaller in size for one and the same cause: for because of being incomplete they are smaller in size, and because the size is smaller they are more numerous in number.
καὶ ἧττον δὲ ἡδέα διὰ τὸ ἀπεπτότερα εἶναι· ἐν πᾶσι γὰρ τὸ πεπεμμένον γλυκύτερον.
And they are less pleasant to taste because they are less digested (matured); for in all things that which is digested is sweeter.
ὅτι μὲν οὗν οὔτε τὰ τῶν ὀρνίθων οὔτε τὰ τῶν ἰχθθύων τελειοῦται πρὸς τὴν γένεσιν ἄνευ τῶν ἀρρένων, ἱκανῶς ὦπται, περὶ δὲ τοῦ γίνεσθαι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσι κυήματα ἄνευ τῶν ἀρρένων οὐχ ὁμοίως, μάλιστα δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῶν ποταμίων ἑώραται περὶ τοὺς ἐρυθρίνους συμβαῖνον· ἔνιοι γὰρ εὐθὺς ἔχοντες ᾠὰ φαίνονται, καθάπερ ἐν ταὶς ἱστορίαις γέγραπται περὶ αὐτῶν.
That neither the eggs of birds nor those of fish are completed for generation without the males has been sufficiently observed, but concerning the occurrence of embryos even in fish without the males, it has not been observed in the same way, though it has been seen to happen especially in the erythrinos among river fish; for some appear to have eggs immediately, as has been written about them in the Inquiries.
ὅλως δ᾽ ἔν γε τοῖς ὄρνισιν οὐδὲ τὰ γινόμενα διὰ τῆς ὀχείας ᾠὰ θέλει ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ λαμβάνειν αὔξησιν, ἐὰν μὴ ὀχεύηται ἡ ὄρνις συνεχῶς.
Generally, at least in birds, not even the eggs produced by mating tend for the most part to take growth unless the bird mates continuously.
τούτου δ᾽ αἴτιον ὅτι καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν γυναικῶν τὸ πλησιάζειν τοῖς ἄρρεσι κατασπᾷ τὴν τῶν γυναικείων ἀπόκρισιν (ἕλκει γὰρ τὸ ὑγρὸν ἡ ὑστέρα θερμανθεῖσα, καὶ οἱ πόροι ἀναστομοῦνται), τοῦτο συμβαίνει καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων ἐπιόντος κατὰ μικρὸν τοῦ καταμηνιώδους περιττώματος, ὃ θύραζε μὲν οὐκ ἀποκρίνεται διὰ τὸ ὀλίγον εἶναι καὶ πρὸς τῷ διαζώματι ἄνω τὰς ὑστέρας, συλλείβεται δ᾽ εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν ὑστέραν.
The cause of this is that, just as in women sexual approach to males draws down the female discharge (for the heated uterus draws the moisture, and the passages open up), this also happens in birds as the menstrual residue comes in little by little, which is not excreted externally because of being small and because the uteri are upper near the diaphragm, but trickles together into the uterus itself.
τοῦτο γὰρ αὔξει τὸ ᾠόν, ὥσπερ τὰ ἔμβρυα τὰ τῶν ζῳοτόκων διὰ τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ, τὸ ἐπιρρέον διὰ τῆς ὑστέρας, ἐπεὶ ὅταν ἅπαξ ὀχευθῇ τὰ ὄρνεα, πάντα σχεδὸν ἀεὶ διατελεῖ ᾠὰ ἔχοντα, μικρὰ δὲ πάμπαν.
For this, namely that which flows through the uterus, increases the egg, just as the embryos of viviparous animals do through the umbilical cord; since when birds have mated once, almost all of them continue always to have eggs, but very small ones.