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[19] The trochilus, a little bird, as it looks for bits of food, flutters and plays about the crocodile as it lies outstretched, and pleasantly tickling its cheeks, makes its way as far as its throat. Seeing this going on, a water rat, a kind of ichneumon, enters the opening of the crocodile's mouth, to which the bird has shown the way, and after lacerating its belly and tearing its vitals to pieces, forces its way out. 1

1 As a matter of fact, the ichneumon destroys only the eggs of the crocodile; cf. Diod. Sic. i. 35, 7; Solinus, 32, 25, agrees with Ammianus, and in 32, 26, tells of the destruction of crocodiles by dolphins with sharp dorsal fins.

Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.

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