Kitap 2
70
There is a kind of finch, too, which was sometimes eaten, of which Eubulus says, And Ephippus says, in his Geryones— When 'twas the Amphidromian festival, When 'tis the custom to toast bits of cheese O' the Chersonesus; and to boil a cabbage, Bedewed with shining oil; and eke to bake The breasts of fat and well-fed lambs; to pluck The feathers from the thrushes, doves and finches; And also to eat cuttle-fish with anchovies, And baskets of rich polypus to collect, And to drink many cups of unmixed wine.
71
Then, too, there are blackbirds.-Nicostratus or Philetærus says— A. What then shall I buy? Tell me, I pray you. B. Go not to more expense than a neat table; Buy a rough-footed hare; some ducklings too, As many as you like; thrushes, and blackbirds, And other small birds; there are many wild sorts. A. Yes, and they're very nice. Antiphanes also reckons starlings among the eatable birds, numerating them in the following list—Honey, partridges, pigeons, ducks, geese, starlings, jays, rooks, blackbirds, quails, and pullets.
71
You are asking of us for a history of everything, and you do not allow us to say a single thing without calling us to account for it. The word στρουθάριον (a little bird) is found in many other authors, and also in Eubulus. He says, Take three or four partridges, and three hares, and as many small birds as you can eat, and goldfinches, and parrots, and finches, and nightjars, and whatever other birds of this kind you can come across.
