The birds raise their young in extremely diverse ways which belong to the most interesting kinds of behaviour found in nature. Much about it was known already to Aristotle, who in his work "Historia animalium" systematically listed and described various animals that influenced treatises of Roman and Medieval era. Among other things, Aristotle, as well as later writers, commented on behaviour of parent birds at the time of breeding and nesting. While the ancient and medieval authors name examples of remarkable parent care, showering the birds who behave this way with honorary epithets like "pius", "diligens" or "clemens", they at the same time do not spare criticisms towards those malevolent birds who skimp on care of their young. These birds were being called names like "improbus", "piger", "inclemens" or "severus". The early Christian and medieval authors paid special attention to Aristotle’s passage concerning the behaviour of the eagle and sea-eagle, which supposedly push one young out of the nest, and of the bearded vulture which take care of the young pushed out and fosters it with its own offspring. Apart from classical Latin names of "aquila", "haliaetus" and "ossifraga", the behaviour of these birds is described also under the names of "linachos" and "kym" that have remained obscure until present days. These are medieval variants of original Greek terms "haliaetos" and "fene" which underwent significant changes in being transcribed from Greek to Arabic and then to Latin. - [Abstract]

Language: Czech

978-80-7422-355-6