Nicostratus, fragment 28 Kassel and Austin (tr. Anna Lamari):
If talking unceasingly, often, and swiftly
was the mark of intelligence, swallows
would be considered far more sound-minded than us.
εἰ τὸ συνεχῶς καὶ πολλὰ καὶ ταχέως λαλεῖν
ἦν τοῦ φρονεῖν παράσημον, αἱ χελιδόνες
ἐλέγοντ᾽ ἂν ἡμῶν σωφρονέστεραι πολύ.
The same (tr. Thomas Moore):
If in prating from morning till night
A sign of our wisdom there be,
The swallows are wiser by right,
For they prattle much faster than we.
The same (tr. John Maxwell Edmonds):
If copious quick incessant talk meant wit,
you'd say the swallows had the best of it.