Ibis, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

The medieval bestiary suggests the ibis is afraid to go into water because it cannot swim, instead walking up and down the shoreline day and night searching for dead fish and other dead creatures to feed its young.

Transcription

Translation

Ibis est avis nili fluminis rostro suo purgans
alvum suum. et semetipsam purgat rostro
in anum aquam fundens. hec serpentum
ovis vescitur. et morticinis. et ex eis gravissimum
cibum pullis suis reportat. Nam in aquam ingre-
di timet; quia natandi naturam nescit. sed iuxta
litus die nocte obambulat. querens aut mor-
tuos pisciculos aut aliqua cadavera. que ab aqua
foras eiecta fuerint. Habet et longum collum
sicut ciconia. ut et aluum purget et cibum sibi
de profundo eliciat. Hec avis inimica est serpen-

An ibis is a bird in the river that cleans its bowels with its beak, and it cleans itself by pouring water into its mouth with its beak, this snake it feeds on sheep and morticians, and from them it brings back the heaviest food for its young. For he is afraid to enter the water; for he does not know the nature of swimming, but walks by the shore day and night, complaining either of dead fish or of some corpses that have been thrown out of the water. It also has a long neck like a stork's, so that it can clean the water and draw food for itself from the depths. This bird is hostile to snakes. Hence Josephus says that

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tibus. Unde iosephus dicit quod huiusmodi aves de-
tulit moyses secum cum iret contra ethiopes. quoniam in
illis regionibus serpentes habundant. Ibis sig-
nificat mortales homines. qui mortiferis operibus
quasi escis utuntur quibus misere anime nutri-
untur ad penam. Tu vero christiane qui aqua et
spiritu sancto renatus es. ingredere ad spiritua-
les aquas misteriorum dei; et inde tibi sume mun-
dissimos cibos quos enumerat apostolus dicens.
Fructus autem spiritus est; caritas. gaudium. pax.
pacientia. longanimitas. et cetera. Nisi sol et lu-
na extenderint radios suos; non lucent. Volu-
cres nisi extenderint alas suas; volare non po-
terunt. Sic et tu homo si signo crucis non munieris;
gemineque dilectionis alas non extenderis ad quietis-
simum portum celestis patrie per medias huius
mundi procellas; transmeare non poteris. Denique
cum moyses elevaret manus suas; superabat israhel
Cum vero remitteret manus; superabat Amalech;
Nomine igitur ibicis aliquando significatur contemplativus
terrena diligens. aliquando diabolus vel luxuriosus. vel

Moses brought such birds with him when he went against the Ethiopians, because snakes abound in those regions. The ibis signifies mortal men, who use deadly works as food, on which they are nourished with a pitiful soul for punishment. But you, as a Christian, who have been reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, enter into the spiritual waters of the mysteries of God; and from there take for yourself the cleanest foods which the Apostle enumerates, saying. But the fruit is the spirit; charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, and so forth. Unless the sun and the moon had extended their rays; they do not shine. The birds had not spread their wings; they will not be able to fly. So also you, man, if you are not protected by the sign of the cross; and the twin wings of love will not be spread to the quietest port of the heavenly country through the midst of the storms of this world; you will not be able to cross. Finally, when Moses raised his hands; Israel overcame him when he let go of his hands; he overcame Amalek. The name therefore sometimes signifies a contemplative who loves earthly things, sometimes a devil or a lustful one, or even curiosity. For Ibis is said to be contemplative; whose reading is of the heavenly, and the thought of the heart is of the earthly, begging for food from the depths of the earth. Hence, in Leviticus, it is considered among the unclean birds that must not be eaten. Because that contemplative is not to be imitated; who does not have a conversation in the heavenly, but in the earthly. Ibis is also called the devil, or lustful, or

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vel curiositas. Ibis enim dicitur contemplativis;
cuius lectio est de celestibus. et cordis cogitatio de
terrenis. querens sibi cibum de profundis terre-
norum. Unde in levitico. ibis inter inmundas aves
que commedi non debent reputatur. Quia contemplati-
vus ille non est imitandus; qui non in celestibus. set
in terrenis conversationem habet. Ibis item dicitur dia-
bolus vel luxuriosus. vel curiosus. Unde ysaias de re-
probatione iudee vel perverse mentis dicit. Posside-
bunt eam onocrotalus et hericius et ibis. et corvus
habitabunt in ea. et cetera. Item ibices dicuntur pre-
predicatores sancti. Unde dominus ad iob ait. Nunquid
nostis tempus patrus ibicum; Quasi diceret. Ego so-
lus novi; quando predicator in predicatione profi-
ciet. quido auditoribus cum volo compunctionem
veram;

curious. Hence Isaiah speaks of the rejection of the Jew or of the perverted mind. The onocrotalus and the heretic will possess it, and you will go. and ravens shall dwell therein, and so forth. Likewise, the Ibizans are called the preachers of the saint. Whence the Lord said to Job. Do you know the time of the father there; As if to say. I alone know; when the preacher succeeds in his preaching, why do I want the hearers to have true remorse?

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Est volatile fulica satis intelligibile et prudentissi-
mum animal. Cadavere non vescitur. Nec aliun-
de pervolat sive oberrat. sed in uno loco commoratur.
et permanet usque in finem. et ibi escam suam habet
et requiescit. Et dicitur fulica eo quod caro eius car-
nem leporinam sapiat. Lagos enim lepus. Unde et apud
grecos lagos vocatur. Est autem stagnensis avis. vel
marina. habens nidos in medio aque. vel in petris
quas circundant aque. Maritimoque semper delectatur
profundo. Que dum tempestatem persenserit; fugi-
ens; in vado ludit. Sic ergo omnis fide-
lis se conservet. non huc atque illuc per diversa
oberrans circumvolet sicut faciunt heretici.
non desiderus secularibus et voluptatibus de-
lectetur. sed semper in uno loco se contineat. et
quiescat; in ecclesia catholica. ubi dominus habitare
facit unanimes in domo. Ibique habeat cotidianum
victum suum id est panem inmortalitatis. potum
vero; pretiosum sanguinem christi. reficiens se super mel et
favum; suavissimis eloquiis dei. Item hec avis

The flying toad is quite an intelligible and very intelligent animal. The carcass is not eaten. Nor does it fly or wander from another place, but it stays in one place and continues to the end. and there he has his food and rests. And it is called a toad because its flesh tastes like the flesh of a hare. For Lagos the rabbit. Hence also among the Greeks it is called lakes. But it is a pond bird. or the sea, having nests in the middle of the water, or on the rocks which the water surrounds. The sea always delights in the deep. That while he felt the storm; fleeing he plays in the ford. In this way, therefore, let every believer preserve himself, not wander hither and thither in divers things, as heretics do, and not be longing for worldly things and delight in pleasures. but let him always keep himself in one place, and rest; in the Catholic church, where the Lord makes the like-minded to dwell in the house, and there he may have his daily sustenance, that is, the bread of immortality, and indeed his drink; the precious blood of Christ, renewing itself on honey and honeycomb; with the sweetest words of God. Again, this bird mystically signifies the faithful, who glories in the

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mistice significat fidelem queque sacramento bap-
tismi gloriantem. qui habet nidum fidei sue in bap-
tismo supra petram que est christus. que fluctus seculi
quibus tunditur; frangit. Unde david ubi nos
habemus. herodii domus dux est. eorum; fulice
domus dux est eorum. idest passerum id est sanctorum
de quibus prius locutus fuerat. Fulice enim domus;
est petra christus. super quem fundatus est nidus fulice. qui
xpistus; est dux omnium sanctorum;

sacrament of baptism, who has the nest of his faith in baptism above the rock which is Christ, on which the waves of the ages are battered; breaks Wherefore we have David, the leader of Herod's house. theirs; The house of the toad is the leader of them, that is, of the sparrows, that is the saints of whom he had spoken before. For the house of Fulice; Christ is the rock on which the nest of the sparrows is founded; He is the leader of all the saints.