Ancient Knowledge of the Birds Now Known at Lake Stymphalus

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Ancient Knowledge of the Birds Now Known at Lake StymphalusAuthor(s): J. J. HallReviewed work(s):Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 102 (1982), pp. 235-236

Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/631152 .

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NOTES 235Coots(Fulica tra),welveWhite-wingedBlackTerns(Chlidoniaseucoptera)nda BlackTern(C. nigra).ThisimplieshatLakeStymphalaspossiblyhebestplace for waterbirdsn Greecesouth of Corinth.Doubtless hesealsoonce includedmost of thespecieswhichstillsurviveon thelargerakes uchasPrespaothe north,in which case therewas once probablyamixedbreeding olonyof pelicans,ormorants,eronsand bises ndpossibly nother f gullsand ernswithinsightof the Classicalacropolis eside he lake,wherejudgingby theappearancef the birdson thecoinagetheywereprobablyonserved,fonlyforthepot.Theydoubtlessmadea spectacularutcrywhenthey weredisturbed,utarehardlyikely ohaveattackedanyone.Theywouldhavebeenmore nterestedn the fish hanthe crops, houghthesemayalsohave beentakenbywintering locksof cranesandgeesewhiletheyweregrowingand food was scarce n the earlyspring.Itwould not reallybe necessaryo calluponHeraclesodiscouragehem.It seemslikelythat theclassicalGreekswouldhaverecognised hat he was poaching n one of the firstnature eserves.

W. R. P. BOURNEZoologyDepartment,AberdeenUniversityAncient knowledge of the birds now known atLake StymphalusThere seemsto be no recordof what the ancientsknew or believedaboutbirdsactuallyat LakeStym-

phalus, partrom helegendof theStymphalianirds,and herepresentationsf birds nStymphalianoins--one perhapsa GreatCrestedGrebe,and one notidentifiable sanyspecies-whichhavebeendiscussedin previousnotesinJHS;' but it will perhaps e ofinterest o seewhatknowledge ncient uthors howofthe birdswhichDr Bourne aw at thelake andnotesabove.AristotleHistoria nimaliumiii 593b1-12, 15-24givesa listof thebirds flakesandriverswhich ncludesmost of the groupsof birdsmentionedby Bourne,thoughit is frequently ot possible o identifyAris-totle's birds with individualspecies.Thus Aristotlementionsgrebe (KoAvPtl's9),eron(ipw8tds),ducks(e.g.vrr7a, udaKag),oot (baAap's), oose(X~iv),nash-colouredgull (Adpos.... uroSoE08i')anda cor-morant 0 KaAo'fLEvoS dpae,the size of a storkbutwithshorterlegs,web-footed ndblack,whichperchesandnestsontrees).2Mostof thesenames efer, ofaraswe can tell, to groupsof birds,not singlespecies;however,the size of Kopae,andits nesting n trees,identifyit as the commonCormorantPhalacrocoraxcarbo);3and virra, which is the commonestduck-name,and a standard f referencen describingther

duck,4 hould eferprimarilyo themost amiliaruck,presumablyhe MallardAnas latyrhynchos).aAaplt,too, which is evidentlyconnectedwith 0cfAapos,'having patch fwhite',canhardly eferoanyspeciesbutthe Coot (Fulica tra).KoAvU43t'sn thispassage f Aristotle oulddenoteanyor all of thegrebes; utparticularindsdo seem obe referredto by other authors.Athenaeus395d,quoting Alexanderof Myndus,mentions77PtKpdaKoAvPL's9,he smallest f aquatic irds,whichmustbethe LittleGrebeTachybaptusuficollis);5nd t hasbeensuggestedn previous otes nJHS6thatthe'Thracianbirds'and8vtrgvot entioned y Dionysius xeuticoni14were GreatCrestedGrebes Podicepsristatus)ndBlack-neckedGrebesPodicepsigricollis).

opw8toLswas appliedto herons and bitternsingeneral,and ancientwritersknew that therewereseveral pecies. t seems ikelythatthe PurpleHeron(Ardeaurpurea)lus heGreyHeron Ardeainerea,hespecies amiliarn Britain)are meantwhen Aristotlecallsonekindof Heron6 wrrAAos,he darkordusky,7andwhenDionysius aysthat someareTrrOLKAOLaL'tLtOvEs.8 Others, says Dionysius (ibid.), arefpaXELs... KaLAEwKOL',and Aristotlespeaksof dAEVKdShichnestsntrees;9ndoneof thespeciesheymeant was probablythe SquaccoHeron (Ardeolaralloides), hichappearswhite in flight (thoughbuffwhen at rest), s smallfor a heronand oftennests ntrees.10Aristotle'shirdheron,6 duarEplas,s tradi-tionallydentifiedwiththeBitternBotaurustellaris);llhesaysof it is that t islazy(ro'TrwvpydoraTro),"ndif thatreferso itsskulking y day nreed-bedsrothervegetation, henit would be applicableo the LittleBittern(Ixobrychusinutus)ndNight Heron(Nycti-corax ycticorax)lso.12Of the three ducks mentionedby Bourne, theMallardwasprobablyheGreek Trra seeabove).NoGreekduck-name eems o have beenreferredo thePochard Aythyaferina);ut Athenaeus 95c,quotingAlexander of Myndus, mentions r7 AEydOLEvovyAavUKlV tdri7v rTV CLprpTwvpdav, ndthishasbeentaken o refer o the Ferruginous uck(Aythyanyroca), f whichthe malehasa conspicuously hiteeye.13

1 S. Benton,'Note on sea-birds',HS xcii (1972)172-3;J. K.Anderson,Stymphaliannd otherbirds', HS xcvi (1976)146.2 The dentificationsf these ncient ird-namesre hoseacceptedbyD'ArcyW.Thompson,AglossaryfGreek irds2London/Oxford1936), andbyJ.Pollard,BirdsnGreeklifeandmyth London 977),andseemcertain.Thewhole of thisnote sheavilyndebted o thesetwo works,and I do not indicateeveryobligation o them.)3TheShag Phalacrocoraxristotelis)snearly slarge,butdoesnotnest ntrees.SeeS.Cramp tal.(edd.),HandbookofthebirdsofEurope(Oxford1977)205, 212.

4 E.g. HA viii 593bx7 f., fdaKas is1tSOLtOS tEv v7TT77, 7 SItkLEYOoS'AdaT7. Cf similar phrasesin Athen. 395d-e.SSo I)D'ArcyThompson i58. Pollard 70 seems to suggest that

KOAVtfl on its own meansthe LittleGrebe;but I canseeno reasonforassuming this, except when it is qualified by ttKpa'.6 J. K. Anderson, Opd, zlvTivos, KarappdKTrs,JHS xcii (1972)171-2; J. Buxton, 'A further note on sea-birds',JHS xciv (1974)17o-i; and Benton (n. i).7 HA ix 6o09b22,6x6b33.8 Ixeut. ii 9.

9 HA ix 617a2-5.10 They certainly also meant the Little Egret (Egretta arzetta),which is pure white, small and tree-nesting, presumably also theSpoonbill (Plataleaeucorodia)nd the GreatWhite Egret (Egretta lba;though that is almost aslargeas the Grey Heron and normally nestsinreeds),and, if they knew it, the Cattle Egret (Bubulcusbis;nowadays,at least, only a vagrant in south east Europe). (Aristotle clearlymentions the Spoonbill as AEVKEPWoS0gat HA viii 593b2, referringto,its long, broad bill.) On these herons see Cramp et al. (n. 3) i 273 ff.,352 if." HA ix 617a7.12 See Cramp et al. (n. 3) i 247, 256, 263.

13 So Pollard 66. D'Arcy Thompson 76 suggests other speciesofduck.Journal of Hellenic Studies cii (1982) 235-236

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236 NOTESOf Bourne's therbirds,here eems o be noknownGreek ame ortheMoorhenGallinulahloropus)14-fairlysmallbird,whichspendsa good deal of timehiddennthickvegetation.Weknow the Greeknamesfor two relatedbirds,butboth seemto refer o single,

larger species: kaAapts,he Coot [see above];andrropkvptwov, he Purple Gallinule [Porphyrio or-phyrio].)5sNor is thereanyevidence hat the ancientsknew wo other mallspeciesmentioned yBourne,heBlack-andWhite-winged lackTerns ChlidoniasigerandC. leucopterus).n theirwinterplumageboth couldeasilybe confusedwithother erns; utin thebreedingseason heyareconspicuouslylackbirdswhich hauntfreshwater,quitedistinct romDionysius' arapaKr7T)andHomer'sElvaAlr7 'S6,lthough othare erns, inceKaTapaK7)r~s whiteand botharesea-birds.16Bournementions hreeother birdsor bird-familieswhich ancientauthors ertainlymention, hough heyare not in the Aristotelianist to which I began byreferring:he GlossyIbis(Plegadisalcinellus), elicansand cranes.Herodotusi 75-6 and AristotleHA ix617b27 f. mention tfl~S,utonly asanEgyptian ird.Bothspeak f twospecies, lackandwhite;andD'ArcyThompson Io8-Io) argues onvincinglyhat the twospeciesmentionedby HerodotusarerespectivelyheBaldIbis(Geronticusremita)nd the modern SacredIbis' (Threskiornisethiopicus),either of which isknown nGreece.However,Pollard66)pointsout thatAristotle's black bis'is confined o Pelusiumn theNile delta,so should be not the Bald Ibis,which isnormally desertbird,but themarsh-haunting lossyIbis-the species eenby Bourneat LakeStymphalus.So it is a puzzlewhetherancientauthorsknew theGlossy bisas a Greekbird.Thepelicans known n ancient uthors srrEAEK6vor 7TEAEKi'VOS.ristotlesays (HA viii 597a9-I ) ot

KEAKEKdvE. ... EKTO7TtnOViU0t, Kat 7 eov1atL 0aTo TOl,ETPUVtvoS ILC v OUTrpoV,aKELEKVO7TOLOUVTat-whichsuggestshattheywerenotknownas abreedingbirdin Greece.It is some confirmation f this thatAristophanes akesno useof the comicpossibilitiesfthe pelican'snormousbeak:presumably isaudiencedidnot knowaboutpelicans.17Of the craneAristotlesays(ibid.4-6): at"yepavot . LETrapdAAovUL.. EKTOV EKKUtKW^v EE&'VEiS TEaA?7Trd vaw7^s3A'y'7Trov, uggesting hat they occurredn Greeceonlyonmigrationndneither rednorwintered here.This is confirmedby otherauthors,romHesiodandHomeronwards,whospeak f thecrane'sappearancesasignofautumn, ndof itsflight to Africa)o avoid he

winter.18Withthese wo birds he ancient vidence,ofaras t goes,isagainstBourne'ssuggestion f pelicansbreeding ndcraneswintering tStymphalus,hough tisnotstrong nough o exclude hepossibilityf smallnumbers ccurringhere. 9Tosumup: t looksasthough heancients newmostof thespeciesmentionedbyBourne(exceptor someofthe smallerones);but it is seldom possibleto becompletelycertain,becausewe seldom have enoughinformation o identifyindividualspecies n ancientauthors' iscussionsf birds:theycouldbereferringoany or all of severalspecies.Eitherthey had notexamined the birds closely enough to distinguishdifferentbut similarspecies,and usedone name,ordescriptivephrase, or all of them;or (if they haddistinguishedhe species) they omitted to recordadequate escriptionsf themin those of theirworkswhich survive.The firstof these two possibilitiessprobably rueof the herons seeabove); he second sprobablyrue, o someextentat east, f theducks, incewe haveseveralapparent uck-names ithlittle or noclueby which we mightdetermine hespeciesmeant;forinstance,doUKas,ate and7qrrrv4`Aon AristotleHAviii 593b17and23. Generallypeaking,helarger hebird,the more the ancientsell us about t: hencewehaveuseful nformation boutpelicans ndcranes, utnot an dentifiablemention fMoorhen r BlackTerns.Ancientauthorsend to be unhelpful boutwhere hebirdsthey mentionoccurred, houghit is a naturalassumptionhatin authorsdown to Aristotle's ime(that s, foraslong as theareaof Greek ettlement ndcultureremained mall)most of the birdsmentionedoccurredn Greeceor around he Aegean,or in southItalyor Sicily,unlessour authors ay otherwise.Thenearesthing o a localbird-listhat havecomeacrosssfrom the list of goods (&r' eUrflvdya0d BotcroirSalrrtAcs)rought ytheBoeotian orsale o Dicaearchusin Aristophanes'charnians875-8):

vaaaaSKOAotwSTrraya~-aAapt'3agTpoxlAW OAV/tL09I....K a o e p V X a v a g s . - . .

Of coursethis is not seriousornithologicalevidence;butit is perhapsust worthnoticing hat it (purportedly)relateso anarea nlyfiftymilesor so fromStymphalus,and includesfour of the birds,mentioned above:mallard, oot, grebesandgeese. J.J.HALLUniversityibrary, ambridge

14 As Pollard 70 points out.15 On the identification of rropovpowv see D'Arcy Thompson252 f., Pollard69. Its darkblue colour and largesizedistinguish t fromthe Moorhen.

16 See Dionysius Ixeut. ii 3, Homer Od. xv 479. On KaT'apdKTc~rseeJ. K. Anderson (n. 6) 171, (n. I) 146;J.J. Hall, 'The birdcataractes',JHS xcix (1979) 163-4.17 Birds882 mentions 7rrAEKdiV7L alt 7rAEKKvo, but says nothingabout them. Birds 1155 f, 7rEAEKdVT7ES, OT 70Ao4',YXe(TvdrrelrEA4'Klaav 7dsrrag sAa, is simply a pun on 7rr.EAKvs,'axe', andshows no knowledge of pelicans as birds. (According to D'ArcyThompson 233 the referenceis to woodpeckers, not pelicans.)

'8 HesiodOp.448ff;HomerII.iii 3 ff;otherpassagesuotedbyD'Arcy Thompson70-2. Nowadays,no craneswinter n Greece,though omedo inTurkey; utmostof thecranes fEuropewinternAfrica.SeeCramp t al. (n. 3) ii (1980)620.19There s no evidence hat the ancientsdistinguishedhe twoEuropeanpecies f pelican,he White(Pelecanusnocrotalus)nd heDalmatianP.crispus);or,apparently,o GreekwritersdistinguishtheCrane Grusrus)romtheDemoiselleCrane(Anthropoidesirgo;thoughPlinyNHx 135mentionsminorgrus',presumablyhe atterspecies.See Pollard 4, D'ArcyThompson 9).20 Cf. Peace 00oo4var v'r77as rr7aspoXLAov?.