[72] Why did they think that the priests that take omens from birds, whom they formerly called Auspices, but now Augures, should always keep their lanterns open and put no cover on them?
Were they like the Pythagoreans,[165] who made small matters symbols of great, forbidding men to sit on a peck measure or to poke a fire with a sword: and even so did the men of old make use of many riddles, especially with reference to priests: and is the question of the lantern of this sort? For the lantern is like the body which encompasses the soul; the soul within is a light[166] and the part of it that comprehends and thinks should be ever open and clear-sighted, and should never be closed nor remain unseen.
Now when the winds are blowing the birds are unsteady, and do not afford reliable signs because of their wandering and irregular movements. Therefore by this custom they instruct the augurs not to go forth to obtain these signs when the wind is blowing, but only in calm and still weather when they can use their lanterns open.