"... When able to identify the zoological referent denoted by the Hebrew term, the translators generally used the most faithful correspondent in Greek, as can be seen especially from the first series of five birds. When they were no longer able to identify this zoological referent, the translators resorted to etymology primarily, which can be regarded as the closest equivalent to literalism when literalism was not possible. At the same time, however, the fact that the Greek translators were unable to identify several of the birds listed left them with a significant margin of freedom. As a result, the etymological technique led them to partly substitute the series of small raptors with aquatic birds, such as the seagull, the swan or the cormorant. Undoubtedly, the introduction of such aquatic birds fit more adequately into the ornithological panorama surrounding the translators, who were working in Egypt. For the same reason, the Greek translators introduced a few exotic birds that were consistent with the Egyptian context, such as the ibis and the griffon, both of which translate Hebrew terms (ינשוף and פרס respectively) whose meaning was presumably lost to them ..."