Res Gestae

Now, savage as these same beasts always are, during the seven festal days on which the priests at Memphis celebrate the birthday of the Nile, as if by a kind of military truce they lay aside all their

Besides those that lose their lives through accident, some are destroyed by creatures resembling dolphins, which are found in that same river and with sawlike dorsal fins tear the crocodiles’ soft bellies; and others die in the following manner.

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.[*](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.)

Yet daring as this monster is towards those who run from it, when it sees that it has a daring opponent it is most timorous. It has sharper sight when on land, and during the four winter months it is said to take no food.