Note 163 — Chapter IV
Reading edition
קאת, a water-bird according to Deut. xiv. 17, Lev. xi. 18, mostly taken as pelican; so R.V. A.V. cormorant. קִפֹּד has usually been taken from קפד, to draw together, therefore hedgehog or porcupine. But the other animals mentioned here are birds, and it is birds which would naturally roost on capitals. Therefore bittern is the better rendering (Hitzig, Cheyne). The name is onomatopœic. Cf. Eng. butter-dump. LXX. translates chameleons and hedgehogs.