Folio 58r - the quail, continued. De cornice ; Of the crow
of another species, through whom they guard against this early danger. There are two kinds of men, the good and the bad. The 'other species' is that of wicked men. The righteous, therefore, place the wicked before them, and watch closely what happens to them. By watching carefully, they see the early danger of sin, and avoid it.
This bird, like man, suffers from the falling sickness, in the same way that the spiritually-minded man, just like the carnally-minded man, is said to sin at times. No matter how often he sins, he does not die, because the grace of penitence is not denied him. On this subject it is written: 'The righteous man falls seven times in a day' yet he does not cease to be righteous (see Proverbs, 24:16). For as often as the righteous man sins, so often does he go on to rise again.
Of the crow
The crow is a long-lived bird, called cornix in Latin and Greek.
Soothsayers assert that the crow can represent by signs the concerns of men, show where an ambush is laid and foretell the future. It is a great crime to believe this - that God confides his intentions to crows. Among the many omens attributed to crows is that of presaging by their caws the coming of rain. Hence the line: 'Then the crow loudly cries for rain' (Virgil, Georgics, 1, 388).
Let men learn from the crow's example and its sense of duty, to love their children. Crows follow their young in flight, escorting them attentively; they feed them anxiously in case they weaken. A very long time passes before they give up their responsibility for feeding their offspring.
In contrast, women of our human race wean their babies as soon as they can, even the ones they love. Rich women are altogether averse to breastfeeding. If the women are poor, they cast out their infants, expose them and, when the babies are found, deny all knowledge of them. The rich themselves also kill their children in the womb, to avoid dividing their estate among many heirs; and with murderous concoctions