THE MEMNONIDES

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Auctores sunt omnibus annis advolare Ilium ex Aethiopia aves et confligere ad Memnonis tumulum, quas ob id Memnonidas vocant. hoc idem quinto quoque anno facere eas in Aethiopia circa regiam Memnonis, exploratum sibi Cremutius tradit. simili modo pugnant Meleagrides in Boeotia. Africae hoc est gallinarum genus, gibberum, varies sparsum plumis. quae novissimae sunt peregrinarum avium in mensas receptae propter ingratum virus; verum Meleagri tumulus nobiles eas fecit.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

There are some authors who say that every year certain birds fly from Æthiopia to Ilium, and have a combat at the tomb of Memnon there; from which circumstance they have received from them the name of Memnonides, or birds of Memnon. Cremutius states it also as a fact, ascertained by himself, that they do the same every fifth year in Æthiopia, around the palace of Memnon.

In a similar manner also, the birds called meleagrides fight in Bœotia. They are a species of African poultry, having a hump on the back, which is covered with a mottled plumage. These are the latest among the foreign birds that have been received at our tables, on account of their disagreeable smell. The tomb, however, of Meleager has rendered them famous.