The dyomeda is a bird that lives on the island of Diomedia near Apulia (southeastern Italy). Legend says the companions of Diomedes were transformed into these birds (from Metamorphoses book 6 by Ovid). They are similar to coots, the size of swans, white with hard toothed beaks. They dig nests in the earth and cover them with branches; the exit faces east and the entrance faces west.They can distinguish between local people (i.e. Greeks) and foreigners, and attack outsiders with bites.