Sanhedrin 109 – Life in the Ark

Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, once said to Noah's son, Shem the Great, “Life in the ark was naturally hard for the animals, but what about you, the humans?” Shem answered that they indeed endured great distress. Animals had to be fed by day or by night, depending on their habits, and Noah with his sons was always busy. There was a small bird resembling quail, called Zikita, and Noah did not know what it ate. Once he was standing eating a pomegranate, a worm fell out, and the bird ate it. After this, Noah would prepare bran until it would become wormy, then feed the worms to the bird.

There was a bird named Chol (possibly Phoenix) which Noah found lying in its quarters in the Ark, not outside waiting for food. He asked, “You don't want to eat?” The bird answered, “I saw how preoccupied you were, so I did not want to trouble you with feeding me.” Touched, Noah said, “May be it God's will that you will never die!” and it was fulfilled in “I shall die with my nest intact and live for many days like chol.”

Art: Theodule Augustine Ribot - Still Life with a Pomegranate