Astylus (or Astilus, in some editionsFor example – Keene (1887) has Astilus, Duff and Duff (1934) has Astylus) informs Lycidas that Nyctilus and Alcon recently had a song contest. Nyctilus had pledged some goat kids and their mother, Alcon had pledged a puppy of [a] Lioness (catulum... laeanae) (different editors and other scholars differ as to whether this simply refers to a puppy whose mother was called Laeana, a big or fierce dog breed, or whether it is an actual dog/lion crossbreedSee Duff, J.W. and Duff , A.M. (1934) Minor Latin Poets (Vol 1) p. 271, fn (a); Keene, C.H. (1887) The Eclogues of Calpurnius Siculus and M. Aurelius Olympius Nemesianus p. 133; Korzenieweski, D. (1972) Hirtengedichte aus neronischer Zeit.). Alcon won the contest.
