the most priceless gift of all, to be winged? Look at Diitrephes![18]
His wings were only wicker-work ones, and yet he got himself chosen
Phylarch and then Hipparch; from being nobody, he has risen
to be famous; 'tis now the finest gilded cock of his tribe.[19]

f[1] The actor, representing Procne, was a flute-player.
f[2] The parabasis.
f[3] A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras,
as celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians
condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C.
f[4] Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock
and the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest.
f[5] i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which
season the Ancients did not venture to sea.
f[6] A notorious robber.
f[7] Meaning, "We are your oracles." --Dodona was an oracle in Epirus.
--The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, all
the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both
the sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered
the questions of those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek.
f[8] The Greek word for 'omen' is the same as that for 'bird.'
f[9] A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen
in everything.
f[10] An imitation of the nightingale's song.
f[11] God of the groves and wilds.
f[12] The 'Mother of the Gods'; roaming the mountains, she held dances,
always attended by Pan and his accompanying rout of Fauns and Satyrs.
f[13] An allusion to cock-fighting; the birds are armed with brazen spurs.
f[14] An allusion to the spots on this bird, which resemble the scars
left by a branding iron.