in question was eaten; and that doves or pigeons would be less meagre
food than the Swallow, and therefore more probably intended in the
Egyptian texts. But Swallows are still eaten at Rome, where like Clive
Newcome we may be regaled not only with “wild swans and ducks” but with
“robins, owls, and οἰωνοῖσι τε πᾶσι for dinner.” And Willughby, the
naturalist, found a large quantity of swallows being sold for food at
Valencia in Spain.
The flat head, the short legs, and the tail of the bird are
characteristic not of the pigeon but of the swallow, and on many
pictures (_e.g._, pl. xxi, vignette from Leyden papyrus) we are reminded
of the song—
Ἦλθ’ ἦλθε χελιδὼν ...
ἐπὶ γαστέρα λευκὰ
ἐπὶ νῶτα μέλαινα.
It is not quite plain why the name of Scorpion should be given to the
bird, but the name ⁂⁂⁂ of the insect in itself implies
nothing more than the characteristic _whiteness_ of colour.