A History of Monsters. 563

Similar monsters have also been found among various kinds of ducks and geese. Julius Caesar Scaliger, in his commentaries on the books attributed to Aristotle *On Plants*, mentions a duckling that lacked one leg, with no trace of the missing limb remaining. Furthermore, Giambattista della Porta, in his *Natural Magic*, recorded seeing a small, four-legged duck with a wide beak. The front of its body was black and the rear yellow; it had a black head and ash-gray eyes with a black ring surrounding its neck. Its wings, back, and tail were blackish, and its yellow feet were set close together. This specimen is still preserved at Torgau.

It should not seem surprising that within a flock of geese, individuals are occasionally born that differ from the rest in the number or shape of their limbs.

Indeed, in the year 1596, as reported by Lycosthenes, a goose of monstrous form was found in a certain village called Schiltigheim, belonging to the Bishopric of Strasbourg. It possessed four feet, two heads, and two vents for waste. Albertus Magnus also admits to having seen a monstrous goose with four feet, as many wings, a single back, and two necks, though he recorded that it did not live long.

In this section, however, we have seen to the illustration of a four-legged goose that lived in Bologna for several years. We observed it many times and ordered it to be painted as an unusual animal, as appears in Figure XIV, where the marsh mallow (*Althea palustris*) is also depicted.

Since monsters of this kind occur in animals that frequently mate and give birth, the pigeon family is no stranger to such deformities. When the conditions of time and place are right and food is available, pigeons breed in every month. Therefore, Aelian recorded, not without reason, that pigeons give birth at all times of the year; however, he cites this from the opinion of Aristotle, who taught that our local pigeons breed all year round, provided the location is suitable and food is abundant.

Pigeons are indeed lustful creatures, and although they kiss each other before mating, a female stimulated by excessive desire will sometimes admit the male without a kiss. Thus, monsters among these animals occur either in their coloration or in the number and malformation of their parts.

Regarding color, Oppian records that pigeons will become "monstrous"—variegated as if they had been painted—if, while they are gripped by the desire for Venus and are already kissing their mates, the pigeon-keeper displays garments decorated with a variety of colors, especially purple. He describes it in these verses:

The clever fowler, who cares for birds and the lethal reed,

Performs this same trick when he wishes,

And by this art they shape the chicks of pigeons;

The fowler sets out coverings with fiery eyes and red tapestries,

And garments steeped in purple.

Thus feeding their eyes, he deceives their loving minds,

And she brings forth chicks with a mingled red distinction.

At present, we are not admiring the "monstrous" beauty of pigeons, but rather investigating the malformation of parts and the doubling of feet.

Therefore, we first present for inspection the image of a four-legged pigeon caught in Germany in the year 1550, near the village of Riechshofen, not far from the town of Landau. This bird not only had four feet but also two vents for waste. It was later sent to Augsburg (where the Diet of the Roman Empire was then being held), where it was viewed as a miracle, first by Emperor Charles V and the Princes of the Empire, and then by the rest of the crowd, as Lycosthenes records. This is shown in Figure XV.

Another four-legged pigeon, entirely ash-gray in color tending toward amethyst, was born in Bologna with a double belly. To distinguish it, we have had it drawn with hemp (*Cannabis*) and present it for inspection in Figure XVI.

Since there is a great diversity of foreign pigeons, not only in terms of their feet but also the size of their beaks and the crests on their heads, it should be noted that among these, the Cyprian varieties are the most beautiful. Two types of these are seen: one with a crest, the other