"I have
heard that the Indian animal the Gryphon is a quadruped like a
lion; that it has claws of enormous strength and that they
resemble those of a lion. Men commonly report that it is
winged and that the feathers along its back are black, and
those on its front are red, while the actual wings are neither
but are white. And Ctesias records that its neck is variegated
with feathers of a dark blue; that it has a beak like an
eagle's, and a head too, just as artists portray it in
pictures and sculpture. Its eyes, he says, are like fire. It
builds its lair among the mountains, and although it is not
possible to capture the full-grown animal, they do take the
young ones. And the people of Bactria, who are neighbors of
the Indians, say that the Gryphons guard the gold in those
parts; that they dig it up and build their nests with it, and
that the Indians carry off any that falls from them.