§6.1## Ζ.
Αἱ μὲν οὖν τῶν ὄφεων καὶ τῶν ἐντόμων γενέσεις, ἔτι δὲ τῶν τετραπόδων καὶ ᾠοτόκων, τοῦτον ἔχουσι τὸν τρόπον.
The generations, then, of snakes and insects, and furthermore of quadrupeds and oviparous animals, are of this manner.
Οἱ δ’ ὄρνιθες ᾠοτοκοῦσι μὲν ἅπαντες, ἡ δ’ ὥρα τῆς ὀχείας καὶ οἱ τόκοι οὐ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ἔχουσιν.
Birds, on the other hand, all lay eggs, but the season of copulation and the laying of eggs are not the same for all.
Τὰ μὲν γὰρ καὶ ὀχεύεται καὶ τίκτει κατὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ὡς εἰπεῖν, οἷον ἀλεκτορὶς καὶ περιστερά, ἡ μὲν ἀλεκτορὶς ὅλον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἔξω δύο μηνῶν τῶν ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι τροπικῶν.
For some both copulate and lay at almost any time, so to say, as for instance the domestic hen and the pigeon; the hen indeed through the whole year except for two months at the winter solstice.
Πλῆθος δὲ τίκτουσιν ἔνιαι καὶ τῶν γενναίων πρὸ ἐπῳασμοῦ καὶ ἑξήκοντα· καίτοι ἧττον πολυτόκοι αἱ γενναῖαι τῶν ἀγεννῶν εἰσίν.
Some of the well-bred hens lay a great number of eggs, even as many as sixty, before brooding; although the well-bred ones are less prolific than the common ones.
Αἱ δὲ Ἀδριαναὶ ἀλεκτορίδες εἰσὶ· μὲν μικραὶ τὸ μέγεθος, τίκτουσι δ’ ἀν’ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν· εἰσὶ δὲ χαλεπαί, καὶ κτείνουσι τοὺς νεοττοὺς πολλάκις· χρώματα δὲ παντοδαπὰ ἔχουσιν.
The Adriatic hens are small in size, but they lay every day; they are, however, ill-tempered, and often kill their chicks; they have colors of all kinds.
Τίκτουσι δὲ καὶ οἰκογενεῖς ἔνιαι δὶς τῆς ἡμέρας· ἤδη δέ τινες λίαν πολυτοκήσασαι ἀπέθανον διὰ ταχέων.
Some domestic ones also lay twice a day; and some have already died quickly from having laid excessively.
Αἱ μὲν οὖν ἀλεκτορίδες τίκτουσιν, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, συνεχῶς· περιστερὰ δὲ καὶ φάττα καὶ τρυγὼν καὶ οἰνὰς διτοκοῦσι μέν, ἀλλ’ αἱ περιστεραὶ καὶ δεκάκις τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ τίκτουσιν.
Now hens lay, as has been said, continuously; but the pigeon, the wood-pigeon, the turtle-dove, and the rock-dove lay two eggs at a time, though pigeons lay even ten times in a year.
Οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι τῶν ὀρνίθων τίκτουσι τὴν ἐαρινὴν ὥραν, καὶ εἰσὶν οἱ μὲν πολύγονοι αὐτῶν, πολύγονοι δὲ διχῶς, οἱ μὲν τῷ πολλάκις, ὥσπερ αἱ περιστεραί, οἱ δὲ τῷ πολλά, ὥσπερ αἱ ἀλεκτορίδες.
Most birds, however, lay in the spring season, and some of them are prolific, and prolific in two ways: some by laying often, like pigeons, and others by laying many, like hens.
Τὰ δὲ γαμψώνυχα πάντα ὀλιγόγονά ἐστιν, ἔξω κεγχρίδος· αὕτη δὲ πλεῖστα τίκτει τῶν γαμψωνύχων.
But birds with crooked talons are all unprolific, except the kestrel; this latter lays the most among those with crooked talons.
Ὦπται μὲν οὖν καὶ τέτταρα ἤδη, τίκτει δὲ καὶ πλείω.
Now, even four have been seen, and it lays even more.
Τίκτουσι δὲ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐν νεοττιαῖς, τὰ δὲ μὴ πτητικὰ οὐκ ἐν νεοττιαῖς, οἷον αἵ τε πέρδικες καὶ οἱ ὄρτυγες, ἀλλ’ ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἐπηλυγαζόμενα ὕλην.
And the other birds lay in nests, but those that are not good fliers do not lay in nests, such as partridges and quails, but on the ground, sheltering themselves with brushwood.
Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ κόρυδος καὶ τέτριξ.
In like manner also the crested lark and the tetrix.
Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὑπηνέμους ποιεῖται τὰς νεοττεύσεις· ὃν δ’ οἱ Βοιωτοὶ καλοῦσιν εἴροπα, εἰς τὰς ὀπὰς ἐν τῇ γῇ καταδυόμενος νεοττεύει μόνος.
These, then, make their nests sheltered from the wind; but the bird which the Boeotians call the eirops is the only one that nests by diving into holes in the ground.
Αἱ δὲ κίχλαι νεοττιὰν μὲν ποιοῦνται ὥσπερ αἱ χελιδόνες ἐκ πηλοῦ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς τῶν δένδρων, ἐφεξῆς δὲ ποιοῦσιν ἀλλήλαις καὶ ἐχομένας, ὥστ’ εἶναι διὰ τὴν συνέχειαν ὥσπερ ὁρμαθὸν νεοττιῶν.
And thrushes make their nests of mud, like swallows, upon the high parts of trees, and they make them next to one another and connected, so that on account of the continuity they are like a string of nests.
Ὁ δ’ ἔποψ μόνος οὐ ποιεῖται νεοττιὰν τῶν καθ’ ἑαυτὰ νεοττευόντων, ἀλλ’ εἰσδυόμενος εἰς τὰ στελέχη ἐν τοῖς κοίλοι αὐτῶν τίκτει, οὐδὲν συμφορούμενος·
And the hoopoe alone of the birds that nest by themselves does not make a nest, but entering into the hollows of tree trunks, it lays its eggs there without gathering any material.
Ὁ δὲ κόκκυξ καὶ ἐν οἰκίᾳ νεοττεύει καὶ ἐν πέτραις.
And the cuckoo nests both in houses and in rocks.
Ἡ δὲ τέτριξ, ἣν καλοῦσιν Ἀθηναῖοι οὔραγα, οὔτ’ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς νεοττεύει οὔτ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς δένδρεσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τοῖς χαμαιζήλοις φυτοῖς.
And the tetrix, which the Athenians call ourax, nests neither on the ground nor in trees, but on low-growing plants.