The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

is a larger thrush, as it were. It is thought to produce
mistletoe by means of its droppings. Whence the ancients
had a proverb: “The bird shits trouble for itself.” 30
72. The furfurio (cf. furfur, “husk”) is so named
because formerly it used to feed after grain (far) had
been ground into flour. 73.Thefigpecker (ficedula)isso
named because it mostly eats figs (ficus). This is revealed
by that ancient couplet (Martial, Epigrams 13.49):
Although the fig feeds me, since I am nourished by sweet
grapes, why was it not the grape (uva) rather that gave
me my name (i.e. uvedula)?
74.The goldfinch (carduelus), because it is nourished by
thorns and thistles (carduus), whence among the Greeks
it is also called acalanthis,from, that is, “thorn,”
by which it isnourished.
75. Augurs say that omens are found in the gestures
and movements and flights and calls of birds. 76.Those
birds are called oscines that produce auspices with their
mouths (os) andtheirsong(cantus), such as the raven,
the crow, and the woodpecker. 77.Thealites are those that
seem to show the future by their flight (cf. ala,“wing”);
if they are unpropitious, they are called inebrae,because
they inhibit (inhibere), that is, they forbid; if they are
propitious, they are called praepetes. The reason they
are called praepetes is that all birds, when they fly, ‘pursue
what is ahead’ (priora petere). 78. People define a
third type of augur among the birds, which they call
‘common’; it is a combination of both, this is, when
birds provide omens from both their mouths and their
flight. All this is not worthy of belief.
79. All species of birds are born twice. They are
born first as eggs, after which they are formed and animated
by the warmth of their mother’s body. 80. Eggs
(ovum) are so called because they are ‘moist’ (uvidus).
Whence also grapes (uva) are so named because they
are full of liquid inside. Whatever has liquid on the outside
is ‘wet’ (humidus); whatever has it on the inside
is ‘moist.’ Some believe that ‘egg’ has a Greek source
for the term; the Greeks say , withtheletterleft out. 81. Some eggs are conceived by means of empty
wind, but eggs are not fertile unless they have been
30 As birdlime was made from mistletoe berries, the sense is that
birds produce their own doom, “foul their own nest.” It was believed
that mistletoe seeds had to be digested by birds before they could
germinate.
The Etymologies XII.vii.72–viii.6 269
conceived by coition with the male and have been
penetrated by the seminal spirit. People say that the
strength of eggs is such that wood soaked with egg
doesn’t burn, and not even clothing becomes scorched.
And when mixedwith lime it is said to glue fragments
of glass together.
viii. Tiny flying animals (De minutis volatibus) 1.Bees
(apis) are so named either because they cling to each
other with their feet (pes), or because they are born
without feet (cf. a-,“without”), for they develop feet and
wings afterwards. These animals, skilful at the task of creating
honey, live in allocated dwellings; they construct
their homes with indescribable skill; they make their
honeycombs from various flowers; they build wax cells,
and replenish their fortress with innumerable offspring;
they have armies and kings; they wage battle; they flee
smoke; they are annoyed by disturbance. 2.Manypeople
know from experience that bees are born from the carcasses
of oxen, for the flesh of slaughtered calves is beaten
to create these bees, so that worms are created [from] the
putrid gore, and the worms then become bees. Specifically,
the ones called ‘bees’ originate from oxen, just
as hornets come from horses, drones from mules, and
wasps from asses. 3.TheGreeks name costri those larger
bees that are created in the edges of the honeycomb; some
people think they are the kings. They are so named
because they rule the hive (castra). The drone is larger
than a bee, and smaller than a hornet. And the ‘drone’
(fugus,i.e. fucus)issocalled because it eats what is produced
by others, as if the word were fagus (cf. ,
“eat”), for it eats food that it has not toiled over. Concerning
it Vergil says (Geo. 4.168):
They keep the drones, a lazy flock, from the hives.
4. Wasps (vespa) ...Thehornet(scabro, i.e. crabro)
is named from cabo, thatis,fromthepackhorse(caballus),
because it is created from them. Just as hornets are
born from the rotting flesh (caro) ofhorses,soscarabs
(scarabaeus) areoftenbornlikewise from such flesh –
whence they are named. 5.Earth scarabs, similar to ticks,
are called tauri (lit. “bulls”). The buprestis (i.e. a venomous
beetle) is a small animal in Italy, similar to the
scarab, a long-legged animal. It lies in wait for cows (bos)
in particular among the pasturage, whence it takes its
name, and if it is eaten it so inflames with the contagion
of its poison that the cow bursts. 6. Theglow-worm