- A non-expert permitting a bird with one or two סימנים of kashrus
Rav Nachman said: היה בקי בהן ובשמותיהן – if one was an expert in [identifying the פרס and עזניה] and all other birds which are also called by their names (i.e., and are included in their category), then a bird with only one סימן of kashrus is kosher, since he knows it is not a פרס or עזניה. If he is not an expert on these birds, then a bird with one סימן is forbidden to him, but he may eat a bird with two סימנים, והוא שיכיר עורב – provided he can recognize a crow, and knows this bird is not an עורב. The Gemara objects that Rebbe Eliezer said that the זרזיר – starling (which also has two סימנים) is included in the עורב prohibition!? [Although he was told that the people of כפר תמרתא would eat the זרזיר, he replied: אף הן עתידין ליתן את הדין – they are destined to give an accounting and will be punished for doing so.] Therefore, the Gemara concludes that he must be an expert in the עורב and every type of עורב. Ameimar ruled that any bird with a single סימן is permitted, provided it does not claw. He disagrees with Rav Nachman, and holds even a non-expert need not be concerned for the פרס and עזניה, because ליתנהו בישוב – they are not commonly found in inhabited areas.
- סנונית לבנה
In one version, Rebbe Eliezer darshens "למינו" – according to its kind (written by עורב) to include סנונית לבנה – the white-[bellied] swallow as prohibited under the category of עורב. Rebbe Eliezer was told that people of the גליל העליון eat it, but he replied: אף הן עתידין ליתן את הדין – they are destined to give an accounting and will be punished for doing so. Rav Yehudah says: עוף המסרט – the bird which scratches is valid for the מצורע’s purification process, and this is the סנונית לבנה about which the Tannaim disagreed (and Rav Yehudah ruled it kosher). Ameimar says that all Tannaim agree that בחיורא כרסה – [a סנונית] whose belly is white is kosher, and their disagreement is about a yellow-bellied סנונית. According to Mar Zutra’s version, all agree that a yellow-bellied סנונית is not kosher, and their argument is about a white-bellied סנונית.
- Eight ספיקות whose קורקבן can only be peeled with a knife
Rav Assi said: שמונה ספיקות הן – there are eight questionable [birds]: the חובא, the חוגא, the סוגא, the הרנוגא, the תושלמי, the מרדא, the כוחילנא, and the בר נפחא. The reason for this uncertainty is that עופות טהורים קורקבנן נקלף – the gizzards of kosher birds can be peeled, and the gizzards of nonkosher birds cannot be peeled. Regarding these eight, קורקבנן נקלף בסכינא – their gizzards can only be peeled with a knife, and not by hand, so their status is uncertain. [Rashi adds that these eight birds have the other three kosher סימנים, but because they may lack this fourth sign, they may be one of the twenty nonkosher birds with three סימנים.] The Gemara objects that there was a duck in Mar Shmuel’s house whose gizzard could not be peeled, but he placed it in the sun, and once it softened, it peeled. We see that even kosher birds’ gizzards are not always easily peeled!? The Gemara answers that there, once it softened, it was able to be peeled by hand, but these eight can only be peeled with a knife, even after they are softened.