1disqualify the water of purification, i.e., water in which ashes of the red heifer have been placed, by drinking from it. The water that entered the bird’s mouth is disqualified, and some of it drips back into the container, disqualifying the rest. This applies to all birds except for the pigeon, because it sips the water from the container and none falls back in from its mouth. But if it is so that the tasil is a type of pigeon, let the mishna teach: Except for the pigeon and the tasil . Rabbi Zeira said: Although the tasil is a type of pigeon and sips the water as well, this, the tasil , sips the water and spits part of it back, and therefore disqualifies the water of purification, and that, the pigeon, sips but does not spit.
2Rav Yehuda says: The tzutzeyanei doves are fit for sacrifice on the altar, and they are the doves of Reḥava mentioned earlier. The Gemara raises an objection from a mishna ( Nega’im 14:6): The Torah requires hyssop for the purification of a leper. It must be standard hyssop, and neither a hyssop of Greece, nor stibium hyssop, nor Roman hyssop, nor desert hyssop, nor any other kind of hyssop whose name is accompanied by a modifier. Likewise, tzutzeyanei doves should be unfit for sacrifice, because they have a modifier in their name.
3Abaye said: Any item whose name was modified before the giving of the Torah, and concerning which the Torah was particular when naming it, is unfit if its name is accompanied by a modifier, since the language of the Torah was formulated to exclude it. But the name of these tzutzeyanei doves was not modified, i.e., the modifier tzutzeyanei was not applied to them, before the giving of the Torah. Even though it was applied to them later, they are still fit for sacrifice. Alternatively, Rava said: The tzutzeyanei doves are called simply doves in their place of habitation.
4Similarly, Rav Yehuda says: These grasshoppers found among the shrubs are kosher and permitted for consumption. And those found among the cabbages are forbidden. Ravina said: And we flog those who eat them on their account, due to the prohibition: “And all winged swarming things are impure unto you” (Deuteronomy 14:19). And Rav Yehuda says: The bird called tzarda is permitted for consumption, and the barda is prohibited. And your mnemonic to remember which is which is this: Eat any bird except [ bar ] for it. As for the marda , it is uncertain whether it is kosher.
5Rav Asi says: There are eight uncertain cases: The ḥuva , ḥuga , suga , and harnuga , tushelemi , and marda , kuḥilna , and bar nappaḥa . The Gemara explains: What is their uncertainty? The gizzard of kosher birds can be peeled, as mentioned in the mishna, and the gizzard of non-kosher birds cannot be peeled, but the gizzard of these birds can be peeled only with a knife.
6The Gemara asks: But why should these not be kosher? Wasn’t there a certain duck in the house of Mar Shmuel whose gizzard could not be peeled, and they set the gizzard in the sun, and once it softened it could be peeled? The Gemara responds: There, when it softened it could be peeled by hand. Here, in these eight cases, even when it softened it could be peeled only with a knife.
7Abaye says: The swamp rooster is one of the eight uncertain cases, and this is the mardu , i.e., the marda mentioned earlier. Rav Pappa says: The swamp rooster is forbidden, but the swamphen is permitted. And your mnemonic to remember this is the statement of the Sages with regard to the verse: “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:4), that an Ammonite man is unfit to enter the assembly, but not an Ammonite woman. Mareimar taught: The swamphen is forbidden, because the Sages saw that it claws its prey and eats it. And this is the giruta , a non-kosher bird (see 109b).
8Rav says: The bird called the shavor anderafta is permitted, but the piruz anderafta is forbidden. And your mnemonic to remember this is the known personality Piruz the Evil. Rav Huna says: The bird called the bunya is permitted. The parva is forbidden. And your mnemonic to remember this is the known personality Parva’a the Sorcerer.
9Rav Pappa says: The bird known as the reclining and eating mardu is permitted, while the bowing and eating mardu is forbidden. And your mnemonic to remember this is the verse: “You shall bow down to no other god” (Exodus 34:14). Shmuel says: The bird called the wine drinker is forbidden. And your mnemonic to remember this is the halakha : Those who drank wine are unfit for service in the Temple. And Shmuel says: The bird called the wine pourer is forbidden.