CHAP. 17. (13.)—BIRDS, THE RACE OF WHICH IS EXTINCT, OR OF WHICH ALL KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN LOST.

An inauspicious bird also is that known as the "incendiary;"[1] on account of which, we find in the Annals, the City has had to be repeatedly purified; as, for instance, in the consulship of L. Cassius and C. Marius,[2] in which year also it was purified, in consequence of a horned owl being seen. What kind of bird this incendiary bird was, we do not find stated, nor is it known by tradition. Some persons explain the term this way; they say that the name "incendiary" was applied to every bird that was seen carrying a burning coal from the pyre, or altar; while others, again, call such a bird a "spinturnix;[3] though I never yet found any person who said that he knew what kind of bird this spinturnix was.

(14.) I find also that the people of our time are ignorant what bird it was that was called by the ancients a "clivia." Some persons say that it was a clamatory, others, again, that it was a prohibitory, bird. We also find a bird mentioned by Nigidius as the "subis," which breaks the eggs of the eagle.

(15.) In addition to the above, there are many other kinds that are described in the Etruscan ritual, but which no one now living has ever seen. It is surprising that these birds are no longer in existence, since we find that even those kinds abound, among which the gluttony of man commits such ravages.

1. Cuvier suggests, that it may be the coracias of Aristotle, our jack- daw probably, the Corvus graculus of Linnæus. It has been said, that in its admiration of shining objects, it will take up a burning coal; a trick which has before now caused conflagrations. Servius speaks of it as frequenting funeral piles.

2. A.U.C. 647.

3. "Spinturnix" and "clivia" were names given by the augurs probably to some kinds of birds.