Amnis it insana nomine Gallus aqua, Ovidius[1]. Ab hoc, auctore Festo[2], Galli dicebantur sacerdotes Cybeles, qui postquam ex eo bibissent se castrabant, et inter sacrificandum furiose se gerebant. Crinemque rotantes | Sanguinei populis ulularunt tristia Galli, Lucanus lib. I.[3] Quidam[4] Gallum puerum putavere, qui contracta offensa deae se execuerit, et simul fluvio nomen dederit Gyraldus[5]. ¶ Gallinaria insula est a gallinis feris sic dicta: vide infra in Capite de gallinis feris[6]. ¶ Et Pontina palus et Gallinaria pinus, Iuvenalis Sat. 3.[7]

¶ A river flows whose name is Gallus with a driving mad water, Ovid. That's why, as Sextus Pompeius Festus reports, the priests of Cybele were called Galli, since those who had drunk the water of that river were castrating themselves and during the sacrifices they behaved like crazy. And the Galli entirely covered by blood by rotating the head of hair howled inauspicious things to the peoples, Lucanus 1^st book of Pharsalia. Some people believed that Gallus was a boy who, having offended the Goddess, castrated himself, and at the same time gave the name to the river, Giglio Gregorio Giraldi. ¶ Gallinara is an island so called from wild hens: see ahead - page 461 - in the chapter concerning wild hens. ¶ And the Pontina marsh and the Gallinaria pinewood, Juvenal 3^rd Satire.

¶ b. <Comes it merito plebs caetera Regi> | Formoso regi, cui vertice purpurat alto | Fastigiatus apex, dulcique errore coruscae | Splendescunt cervice iubae, perque aurea colla, | Perque humeros it pulcher honos, palea ampla decenter | Albicat ex rutilo, atque torosa in pectore pendet | Barbarum in morem. stat adunca cuspide rostrum, | Exiguum spatii rostrum. flagrantque tremendum | Ravi oculi, niveasque caput late explicat aur{e}is. | Crura pilis hirsuta rigent, iuncturaque nodo | Vix distante sedet, durus vestigia mucro | Armat: in immensum pinnaeque, hirtique lacerti | Protenti excurrunt, duplicique horrentia vallo | Falcatae ad coelum tolluntur acumina caudae, Politianus in Rustico[8].

¶ b. The rest of common folk walks along as companion of the rightly king | the handsome king, on whose head is brightly shining of crimson | the pointed comb, and in his sweet wandering | his shining manes glitter on his neck, and across the golden neck, | and across the shoulders the wonderful beauty is spreading, the broad red wattle is harmoniously | suffused with white, and it is hanging upon the brawny chest | likewise beards: the beak stretches out with a hooked peak, | a beak small in size. And glow in a terrible way | the grey tawny eyes, and the head widely spreads out snow-white earlobes. | The legs rise bristling with hair, and on the legs | with only just wide apart articulations he roosts: a hard spike is arming his feet: | the wings and the shaggy arms when spread | enormously lengthen, and made terrible by a double fence | the points of the sickle-shaped tail are raised towards the sky, Angelo Poliziano in Rusticus.

Crista in gallinaceo, vocatur etiam apex a Politiano. Cristas tollere vel detrahere proverbium referetur infra. Gallorum cristas aliqui barbare ruffas[9] nominant. Ascili[10], id est crista galli, Sylvaticus. Graeci λόφον appellant, ut Eustathius. Aristophanes in Avibus[11] κυρβασίαν: quanquam Varinus Cyrbasiam et Cybarsiam quoque caput gallinacei interpretatur, κεφαλὴν ἀλέκτορος: Hesychius κορυφὴν ἀλέκτορος, id est verticem vel cristam galli. Hippocrates[12] cyrbasi{c}am pileum acutum ut videtur, qui et tiara. alii cyrbasiam, alii tiaram erectam, qua soli Persarum reges utebantur. Ὅ Περσικὸς ὄρνις ὁ ἀλέκτωρ λέγεται διὰ τὴν λοφίαν[13], Suidas.

In the chicken the comb is also called apex by Poliziano. The proverb to lift or to lower the combs is quoted more ahead. Some people in a foreign language call the combs of the roosters as ruffas. Ascili, that is, comb of the rooster, Matteo Silvatico. Greeks call it lóphos; as well Eustathius of Thessalonica. Aristophanes, in Birds, kyrbasía: although Varinus translates cyrbasia and also cybarsia with head of the rooster, kephalën aléktoros: Hesychius with koryphën aléktoros, that is, the top or the comb of the rooster. As it seems Hippocrates means for cyrbasia a felt pointed cap - or pileus, corresponding to the tiara. Others call it cyrbasia, others upright tiara, used only by Persian kings. Hó Persikòs órnis, ho aléktør léghetai dià tën lophìan, the rooster is said the Persian bird because of the comb, lexicon Suidas.

¶ Rostrum, vulgus Italicum becco vocat, vocabulo Tolosano antiquo: quanquam id illis gallinacei rostrum significaret, author Tranquillus in Vitellio[14]. Κόραξ, corvus, et summa gallinaceorum rostra, a colore nigro quem Graeci κορὸν dicunt, Hesychius et Varinus[15]. Κάλεα (lego κάλλαια) barbae gallinaceorum, et pennae in cauda earum secundum Aelium Dionysium[16], Varinus in voce Θρόνα. Κάλλαιοι (lego κάλλαια) gallinaceorum barbae, et omnis color purpureus, vel secundum alios varius. πᾶν πορφυροειδὲς χρῶμα. ἔνιοι δὲ τὰ ποικίλα. καὶ παρ’Αἰγυπτίοις χρῶμα καλαϊνόν[17]. Ponitur etiam pro unguento. Εt καλλαὶ (malim κάλλη, ut Ammonius de differentiis vocum habet[18],) τὰ βαπτὰ ἔρια, Hesychius. Καλλαιάνθη πορφυρᾶ, Hesychius et Varinus. legendum forte, Κάλλη, ἄνθη πορφυρᾶ. nam κάλλη vocant floridos colores, τὰ ἄνθη τῶν βαμμάτων, {Hesych.} <Ammonius>[19]. Καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὤτων ἑκατέρωθεν εἶχε κρεμάμενα, ὥσπερ οἱ ἀλεκτρυόνες τὰ κάλλαια, Athenaeus de tetrace magna. Hermolaus cristas utrinque ex auribus pendentes reddidit, quod non probo. Sed plura de hac voce scripsi supra in B[20]. Αἰκάλλειν verbum dicitur de cane blandiente auribus et cauda: et per translationem a gallinaceis. κάλλεα eorum barbae (τὰ γένεια) vocantur, Varinus. Quemadmodum barbae appendiculas quasdam gallinacei possident, sic aries bellua marina foemina, cirros ex imo collo pendentes habet, Aelianus[21].

¶ Italians call beak the rostrum, using an ancient word of Toulouse: although for Toulouse  inhabitants it had the meaning of chicken's beak, author is Caius Suetonius Tranquillus in the biography of Vitellius contained in the De vita Caesarum. Kórax is the crow and the upper part of chickens' beak from the black color which Greeks say koròn, Hesychius and Varinus. Kálea (I read kállaia) are the wattles of the chickens, as well as the feathers on their tail according to Aelius Dionysius, Varinus reports this at the entry Thróna - embroidered flowers. Kállaioi (I read kállaia) are the wattles of the chickens and whatever crimson color, or, according to others, a polychrome color. Pân porphyroeidès chrôma. Énioi dè tà poikíla. Kaì par'Aigyptíois chrôma kalaïnón. - Every color resembling to crimson. Some people mean the variegated colors. And among Egyptians the deep blue color. This word is also used instead of ointment. And kallaì (I would prefer kállë - the beautiful things, the crimson clothes -, as Ammonius of Alexandria reports when speaking on words' differences) tà baptà éria - kallaì, the bright colored wools, Hesychius. Kallaiánthë porphyrâ, Hesychius and Varinus. Perhaps we must read Kallë, ánthë porphyrâ. For they call ánthë the shining colors, tà ánthë tøn bammátøn - the shines of the hues, Ammonius. Kaì apò tôn øtøn hekatérøthen eîche kremámena, høsper hoi alektryónes tà kállaia - And from ears at both sides it had some hanging things, as the roosters have the wattles, Athenaeus apropos of the big mountain rooster - probably the beard of the capercaillie. Ermolao Barbaro translated with combs hanging from both sides of ears, but I don't agree. But on this term I wrote quite a lot previously in the paragraph B. The verb aikállein - to flatter - is used apropos of a dog blandishing with ears and tail: and metaphorically it comes from chickens. Their wattles (tà ghéneia - the chins) are said kállea, Varinus. Like the chickens have small beard fashioned appendixes, the same the female of sea ram monster has some curly formations hanging from the lower part of the neck, Aelian.

¶ In pullo partem quandam navim vocat Apicius lib. 6. capite ultimo[22], pullum a navi aperiri iubens: pectus forte intelligens, nam mox pullum farsilem a pectore aperiri iubet. sed Humelbergius partem posteriorem ventris interpretatur: qui ut navis cavus, et figurae eius non dissimilis sit.

¶ In the last chapter of 6^th book Apicius calls ship a certain part of the chicken, prescribing that the chicken must be opened starting from the ship: perhaps he means the breast, in fact he then prescribes that a to be stuffed chicken must be opened starting from the breast. But Gabriel Hummelberg interprets it as the rear part of the belly: since it is concave like a ship, and it is not dissimilar from its shape.

¶ Intestina gallinarum cum rebus aliis incocta veteres gigleria vocabant, Hermolaus. alii gigeria[23] legunt. Gigeria pullorum coques, Apicius 4.1.[24] ¶ Actraltigi, fasianum (im<m>o attagenem) significat, non ut quidam putant testiculos gallorum, Sylvaticus. Ὄτρα, gallinacei cauda, Hesych. et Varinus. Κάλεα (malim κάλλαια) barbae gallinaceorum, et pennae in caudis eorum secundum Aelium Dionysium[25], Varinus in Θρόνα.

¶ The ancients called gigleria the hen's bowels cooked with other things, Ermolao Barbaro. Others say gigeria - also gizeria, giblets.  You will cook the gigeria of the chickens, Apicius 4^th,2,21. ¶ Actraltigi means pheasant (or better, francolin), not testicles of rooster like some are thinking, Matteo Silvatico. Ótra, the tail of the chicken, Hesychius and Varinus. Kálea (I would prefer kállaia) the chickens' wattles and the feathers of their tail according to Aelius Dionysius, Varinus at the entry Thróna - embroidered flowers.

¶ Πλῆκτρα Atticis sunt calcaria gallorum quibus pugnant, quae communiter κέντρα vocantur, <Hesych. et> Varinus. Πλᾶκτρον Doricum est, ut et πλακτὴρ apud eosdem. Κόπιες, κέντρα ὀρνίθεια, Iidem. Calcar tollere proverbium referetur in h. ¶ Boccatius[26] gallinaceos pedes Sirenibus attribuit ex Albrico[27] ignobili authore, Gyraldus[28]. ¶ Plumas sub cauda quae gallinis aut capis saginandis evelli solent, aliqui privatim nominant mastfaederen.

¶ For the inhabitants of Attica plêktra are the spurs of the roosters by which they fight, usually called kéntra, Hesychius and Varinus. Still for them plâktron is a Doric word, as well plaktër. Kópies, kéntra ornítheia - kópies, the spurs of the chickens, still they. The proverb to lift the spur will be reported in the paragraph h. ¶ Giovanni Boccaccio founding himself on Albricus, a catchpenny author, attributed feet of chickens to Sirens, Giglio Gregorio Giraldi. ¶ Those feathers usually torn from beneath the tail from hens and capons to be fattened, some specifically call them mastfaederen – fattening's feathers.

¶ c. De voce et cantu gallinacei. Miratur vocem angustam, qua deterius nec | Ille sonat, quo mordetur gallina marito<?>, Iuvenalis Sat. 3. de adulatore[29]. Πρὶν ἤ τὸ δεύτερον ἀλεκτρυὼν (ἀλέκτωρ legi potest, ut versiculus constet) ἐφθέγγετο. Prius atque gallus cantet iterum cristiger. Proverbium est a prisca consuetudine sumptum, qua noctis deliquium et accessum diei galli cantu metiebantur, gnomonibus horariis nondum repertis. Gallus autem tribus intervallis canit, preanuncians diem. Veteres initium diei a prima mediae noctis inclinatione ordiebantur, proximum tempus gallicinium vocabant: quod id temporis lucem multo ante praesentientes incipiunt canere. Tertium conticinium, cum et galli conticescunt, et homines etiam tum quiescunt. Quartum diluculum, cum incipit dignosci dies. Quintum mane, cum clarus iam dies exorto Sole. Itaque secundus gallorum cantus, multo Solis exortum antevenit. Hinc Iuvenalis[30], Quod tamen ad galli cantum facit ille secundi, | Proximus ante diem caupo sciet. Consimiliter Aristophanes in Concionatricibus[31], Οὐδ’εἰ μὰ Δία τοτ’ἦλθες, ὅτε τὸ δεύτερον | Ἀλεκτρυών ἐφθέγγετο, Erasmus. Gallus antequam in hac nocte cantet (bis cantet, Marcus[32]) ter me negabis, Matthaeus Evangelista[33]. Gallus statim cantavit ut Petrus negavit, Lucas[34] et Ioannes[35].

¶ c. About the voice and the song of the rooster. He is surprised at the thin voice, worse than which | not even he shouts when the hen is bitten by her husband? Juvenal 3^rd Satire regarding the adulator. Prìn ë tò deúteron alektryøn (aléktør can be read, so that the short verse sounds rightly) ephthéngeto. Before the rooster, endowed with comb, sings the second time. The proverb comes from the ancient custom according to which by the song of the rooster was measured the fading of the night and the approaching of the day, since the gnomon clocks had not been yet invented. In fact the rooster sings at the distance of three intervals forecasting the day. The ancients started to speak of the beginning of the day from the turning of midnight, they called the following period gallicinium - song of the rooster, dawn -: since at that time they start to sing perceiving very in advance the light. The third period is the conticinium - the moment of the silence - when also the roosters are silent and contemporarily also the men are resting. The fourth period is the morning twilight, when the day is already clear because of the sun which arose. Therefore the second song of the rooster anticipates a lot the rising of the sun. That's why Juvenal was saying: However what he does near the song of the second rooster | The next innkeeper will know before the daybreak. Similarly Aristophanes in Ecclesiazusae says: Oud’ei mà Día tot’êlthes, hóte tò déuteron | Alextryøn ephthéngeto - Not even if, by Zeus, you had come at that moment, when the rooster was singing the second time, Erasmus of Rotterdam. Before the rooster sings this night (sings for the second time, Mark) you will have denied me three times, the evangelist Matthew. As soon as Peter denied, immediately the rooster sang, Luke and John.

¶ Excubitorque diem cantu {patefecerat} <praedixerat> ales, Vergilius[36]. Cristatus ales, Qui tepidum vigili provocat ore diem, Ovidius in Fastis[37]. Surgite iam vendit pueris ientacula pistor, | Cristataeque sonant undique lucis aves, Martialis[38]. Sub galli cantum consultor ubi {h}ostia pulsat, Horatius in Sermonibus 1.1.[39] Auroram gallus vocat applaudentibus alis, Politianus[40].

¶ And the winged sentry with the song had forecasted the day, Virgil. The bird endowed with comb which with its vigilant voice recalls the lukewarm day, Ovid in Fasti. Get up, the baker already sells the pastries to the little boys for breakfast, | And everywhere are singing the birds of the light endowed with comb, Martial. When the client knocks at the door at cockcrow, Horace Sermones 1,1. The rooster calls the sunrise by flapping the wings, Poliziano.