[Sca-cooks] crocodiles and magpies

Terry Decker t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net
Wed Mar 5 12:56:10 PST 2008


> Cindy Renfrow:
> <<
> Forgive me for coming late to this thread.  I don't know whether
> someone has mentioned this or not, but there's a reference to eating
> magpies in Athenaeus, Vol. II, p. 107.
> The passage is listing many birds served at a feast and says:
> "…ducks, ringdoves, geese, snipe, thrushes, larks, magpies, swans,
> pelican, wagtails, crane…" >>
>
>
> Strange. My edition of Athenaeus (ed. Gulick)
>
> reads: "... ducks, pigeons, geese, sparrows, thrushes, larks,
>
> jays, swans, pelican, wagtails, crane---".
>
>
> It is in volume II, page 107. My edition is "1928, repr. 1987".
>
>
> "jays" instead of "magpies". That's not the same kind of bird?
>
>
> E.

Magpies and jays are both members of the family Corvidae (as are crows).  In 
Latin, "pica" appears to be used for both jays and magpies, so this is 
probably a case where the translators chose different meanings for the same 
word.  Pica is now the genus name for magpies.

Bear 




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