1. Animals often fight with each other, particularly those which
inhabit the same places and eat the same food; for when food becomes
scarce, congeners fight together. They say that seals which occupy the
same locality will fight, the males with the males and the females
with the females, until one party is either killed or ejected by the
other, and their cubs also will fight in the same way. All animals also
will fight with carnivorous creatures, and these will fight with other
animals, for they feed upon living creatures; for which reason augurs
observe the disputes and agreements of animals, considering that their
disputes betoken war, and their agreements peace with each other.
2. When supplied with plenty of food, animals that are naturally afraid
of man and fierce appear to submit themselves to him, and to conduct
themselves quietly towards each other. The care which is taken of
animals in Egypt demonstrates this circumstance; for even the fiercest
creatures live together, when they have food enough, and are not in any
want; for they become tame from the supply of their wants which they
receive, as the crocodiles are tamed by the priests by the care which
is bestowed on their food. The same thing may be observed in other
countries and in their different parts.
3. The eagle and the dragon are enemies, for the eagle feeds on
serpents. The ichneumon and the spider are also enemies, for the
ichneumon hunts the spider. Among birds the pœcilis and the lark and
the wood-pecker and chloreus are enemies, for they eat each others'
eggs. The crow and the owl also are enemies; for at mid-day the crow,
taking advantage of the dim sight of the owl, secretly seizes and
devours its eggs, and the owl eats those of the crow during the night;
and one of these is master during the day, the other during the night.
The owl and orchilus are enemies; for the latter eats the eggs of the
owl. During the day other birds fly round the owl, which is called
"astonishing it," and as they fly round it pluck off its feathers. For
this reason fowlers use it in hunting for all kinds of birds.
4. The presbys contends with the weasel and crow, for they eat its eggs
and young. The turtle and pyrallis are foes, for their food and mode of
life are the same. The celeus and libyus, kite and raven are enemies;
for the kite, from the superiority of its claws and flight, can take
from the raven anything it may have caught, so that their food is the
cause of their enmity also. Those that obtain their food from the sea
also are foes, as the brenthus, larus, and harpa. The triorches is a
foe to the toad and the serpent; for the triorches eats the others. The
turtle and chloreus are foes, for the chloreus kills the turtle, and
the crow kills the bird called typanus. The little owl and all other
birds with crooked claws eat the calaris, from whence their enmity
arises.
5. The gecko and the spider are enemies, for the gecko eats spiders.
The pipo is a foe to the heron, for it devours the eggs and young of
the heron. Enmity also exists between the ægithus and the ass; for
the ass frequents thorny places, that it may scratch its sores, and
by this means, and when it brays it overturns the eggs and young of
the ægithus, for they fall out of the nest from fear of the noise,
and the bird, to revenge this injury, flies upon the ass and inflicts
wounds. The wolf is the enemy of the ass, bull, and fox; for being a
carnivorous animal, it attacks both oxen, asses, and foxes. The fox and
circus are enemies for the same reason; for the circus having crooked
claws, and being carnivorous, attacks and inflicts wounds with its
claws.
6. The raven is an enemy to the bull and ass, for it flies round them
and strikes their eyes. The eagle and the heron are foes, for the
eagle has crooked claws and attacks it, and the other dies in defending
itself. The æsalon is a foe to the vulture, and the crex to the coleus,
blackbird, and chlorion, which some persons fabulously say derives its
origin from a funeral pile, for it destroys both themselves and their
young. The sitta and trochilus are foes to the eagle, and the eagle, as
well for this reason, as because it is carnivorous, is a foe to them
all.
7. The anthus is the enemy of the horse, for it drives the horse from
its pasture, for the anthus also feeds on grass; it is dim-sighted and
not quick; it imitates the voice of the horse, which it frightens by
flying at it, and drives it from its pasture; if the horse can seize
upon it, he will kill it. The anthus lives near rivers and marshes;
it is of a fine colour, and lives well. The ass attacks the colota, a
creature which lives in the manger, and prevents it from eating, by
making its way into its nostrils.
8. There are three kinds of heron, the black, the white sort, and the
one called asterias; of these, the black rests and copulates with
difficulty, for it utters a cry, and, as they say, bleeds from the eyes
during coition, and the process of parturition is severe and painful;
it attacks creatures which injure it, as the eagle, for it seizes upon
it, and the fox, for this creature attacks it during the night, and the
lark, which steals its eggs.
9. The serpent is an enemy to the weasel and the hog, for if the weasel
and serpent live in the same house they both require the same kind of
food; and swine eat serpents. The æsalon is a foe to the fox, for it
strikes and pecks it, and destroys its young, for it has crooked claws.
The raven and the fox are friendly, for the raven also attacks the
æsalon, and so they help each other in the attack. The little owl and
the æsalon are mutual foes, for both have crooked claws. The little owl
and the swan attack the eagle, and the swan often comes off victorious.
Of all birds the swans are most disposed to devour[223] each other.
[223] To fight with each other.--See Liddell and Scott's Lexicon, s. v.
ἀλληλομάχος.
10. Some animals are always ready to attack each other, and others, as
mankind, only at particular times. The ass and the acanthis are foes,
for the latter feeds entirely on thorns, but the former only when they
are tender. The anthus, acanthis, and ægithus are foes, and it is said
that the blood of the anthus and ægithus will not mix. The crow and
heron are friends, and so are the schœnion, lark, laëdus, and celeus,
for the celeus lives by the side of rivers and thickets, but the laëdus
lives among rocks and mountains, and is fond of the place in which
it lives. The piphinx, harpa, and kite are friends; the fox and the
serpent also, for both live in holes; and the blackbird and the turtle.
11. The lion and jackal are foes, for both are carnivorous, and live
on the same substances. Elephants also fight fiercely with each other,
and strike with their tusks; the conquered submits entirely, and cannot
endure the voice of the victor: and elephants differ much in the
courage they exhibit. The Indians use both male and female elephants
in war, though the females are smaller and far less courageous. The
elephant can overthrow walls by striking them with its large tusks; it
throws down palm trees by striking them with its head, and afterwards
putting its feet upon them, stretches them on the ground.
12. Elephant-hunting is conducted in the following way: men mount
upon some tame courageous animals; when they have seized upon the
wild animals they command the others to beat them till they fail from
fatigue. The elephant-driver then leaps upon its back and directs it
with a lance; very soon after this they become tame and obedient. When
the elephant-drivers mount upon them they all become obedient, but when
they have no driver, some are tame and others not so, and they bind the
fore legs of those that are wild with chains, in order to keep them
quiet. They hunt both full-grown animals and young ones. Such is the
friendship and enmity of these wild animals originating in the supply
of food, and the mode of life.