33 h X.H E HISTORY Bookl, 'table, but alfo by the importation of many foreign animals into the HTarid. Thefe Were rabbits, pheafants, cuckows, and pigeons, partridges, plovers, turtles, and peacocks. The perdix, petris, paitrifg, or partridge, the pluvialis or plover, the turtur, tyrtyi^ or tin tie, and the pavo, peav, or pea, all fiifficiently declare their origin in their names. The peacock was a difli of coufi- derable repute among the Romans, but was firft placed upon the table by Hortenfius the Orator about feventy years before Chrift and in a fupper which he gave to the facerdotal college * s . The rabbit was originally a native of Spain and its adjoining i (lands, and began to be brought into Italy in the days of Auguftus I6 . It was denominated Cuniculus from its burrow by the Romans in Spain, and received therefore the appellation of Kunigl and Conifl among the Bretoons, of Kuningen among the Welch, and ofKynin and Kuinin among the Irifh 17 . The cuckow juft fledged was reckoned by the Romans of the firft century to excel every -other fpecies of birds in the fine tafte of its flefli*'. And its Roman name of Coccyx or Cuckow very evidently {hews it to have been brought by the Romans into Britaifa. The do* medic pigeon was once equally a ftranger to Afia and to Britain *% and befpeaks fufficiently its introducers into the latter by the name of Klommen which it bears in the Welch, of Kylohmari andKolom intheCorniflv and ofKulmorKohn in the Armoric and thelrifh. And thePhafiana 6r pheafant was originally derived from the banks of the Phafis in Colchos, was carried over into Italy hefore Agricola* s proconfulate in Britain *% and appears plainly from its prefent appellation to have been brought into Britain hy the Romans*
- Caefar p. 89. — * Varro de re Ruftica lib. ii. c. 4. and Strabo
f. 293. — * Varro ibid*—* Strabo ibid. — *P. 58 and 145. vol. I. and p. 223 vol. II.— 6 Pliny lib. x. c. 2 2.-*- 7 Pliny lib. x. c. 50. — ■ Ibid. — * Martial lib. xiii. E. 63 and 64. and Columella p. 634. XSefner.— And the Romans had hen-coops. They were firft in- vented in Italy, and were veiy common in the days of Agricola: 1 Pliny
