When, therefore, the Ostriches are alarmed, they always run to

windward, instinctively knowing that, if an enemy should approach in

that direction, their powers of scent will inform them of the danger.

Being aware of this habit, the hunters manage so that while one of

them goes round by a long detour to frighten the game, the others are

in waiting at a considerable distance to windward, but well on one

side, so that no indication of their presence may reach the sensitive

nostrils of the birds. As soon as the concealed hunters see the

Ostriches fairly settled down to their course, they dash off at right

angles to the line which the birds are taking, and in this way come

near enough to use their weapons. The antelopes of the same country

have a similar instinct, and are hunted in precisely the same manner.

Thus, then, in one sense the Ostrich may be considered as open to the

charge of stupidity, inasmuch as it pursues a course which can be

anticipated by enemies who would otherwise be unable to overtake it.

But it must be remembered that instinct cannot be expected to prove a

match for reason, and that, although its human enemies are able to

overreach it, no others can do so, the instinct of running against the

wind serving to guard it from any foe which it is likely to meet in

the desert.

When captured alive and tamed, it certainly displays no particular

amount of intellect. The Arabs often keep tame Ostriches about their

tents, the birds being as much accustomed to their quarters as the

horses. In all probability they did so in ancient times, and the

author of the Book of Job was likely to be familiar with tame

Ostriches, as well as with the wild bird.

Stupidity is probably attributed to the tame bird in consequence of

the habit possessed by the Ostrich of picking up and eating substances

which cannot be used as food. For example, it will eat knives, bits of

bone or metal, and has even been known to swallow bullets hot from the

mould. On dissecting the digestive organs of an Ostrich, I have found

a large quantity of stones, pieces of brick, and scraps of wood. These

articles are, however, not intended to serve as food, but simply to

aid digestion, and the bird eats them just as domestic fowls pick up

gravel, and smaller birds grains of sand. In swallowing them,

therefore, the Ostrich does not display any stupidity, but merely

obeys a natural instinct.

Lastly, we come to the speed of the Ostrich: "What time she lifteth up

herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider."

This statement is literally true. When the Ostrich puts forth its full

speed, there is no horse that can catch it in a fair chase. It may be

killed by the ruse which has already been described, but an adult

Ostrich can run away from the swiftest horse. When it runs at full

speed, it moves its long legs with astonishing rapidity, covering at

each stride an average of twenty-four feet, a fact from which its rate

of speed may be deduced. In consequence of this width of stride, and

the small impression made in the sand by the two-toed foot, the track

of a running Ostrich is very obscure. Perhaps no better proof of the

swiftness of the bird can be given than the extreme value set upon it

by the Arabs. Although they are bred to the desert as much as the

Ostrich itself, and are mounted on horses whose swiftness and

endurance are proverbial, they set a very high value on the Ostrich,

and to have captured one of these birds establishes an Arab's fame as

a hunter.

Sometimes the Arabs employ the plan of cutting across the course of

the bird, but at others they pursue it in fair chase, training their

horses and themselves specially for the occasion. They furnish

themselves with a supply of water, and then start in pursuit of the

first flock of Ostriches they find. They take care not to alarm the

birds, lest they should put out their full speed and run away out of

sight, but just keep sufficiently near to force the birds to be

continually on the move. They will sometimes continue this chase for

several days, not allowing their game time to eat or rest, until at

last it is so tired that it yields itself an easy prey.

In Southern Africa, snares are used for taking the Ostrich. They are

in fact ordinary springes, but of strength suitable to the size of the

bird. The cord is made fast to a sapling, which is bent down by main

strength, and the other end is then formed into a noose and fastened

down with a trigger. Sometimes the bird is enticed towards the snare

by means of a bait, and sometimes it is driven over it by the

huntsmen. In either case, as soon as the Ostrich puts its foot within

the fatal noose, the trigger is loosed, the sapling is released, and,

with a violent jerk, the Ostrich is caught by the leg and suspended in

the air.

Why the flesh of the Ostrich should have been prohibited to the Jews

is rather a mystery. It is much valued by most natives, though some of

the Arab tribes still adhere to the Jewish prohibition, and those

Europeans who have tried it pronounce it to be excellent when the bird

is young and tender, but to be unpleasantly tough when it is old. Mr.

Andersson says that its flesh resembles that of the zebra, and

mentions that the fat and blood are in great request, being mixed

together by cutting the throat of the bird, passing a ligature round

the neck just below the incision, and then shaking and dragging the

bird about for some time. Nearly twenty pounds of this substance are

obtained from a single Ostrich.

The ancient Romans valued exceedingly the flesh of this bird. We are

told that Heliogabalus once had a dish served at his table containing

six hundred Ostrich brains, and that another emperor ate a whole

Ostrich at a meal. As an adult Ostrich weighs some twenty-five stone,

we may presume that the bird in question was a young one.

The eggs are most valuable articles of food, both on account of their

excellent flavour and their enormous size. It is calculated that one

Ostrich egg contains as much as twenty-five ordinary hen's eggs.

Cooking the Ostrich egg is easily performed. A hole is made in the

upper part of the egg, and the lower end is set on the fire. A forked

stick is then introduced into the egg, and twirled between the hands,

so as to beat up the whole of the interior. Europeans usually add

pepper and salt, and say that this simple mode of cooking produces an

excellent omelette.

The ordinary food of the Ostrich consists of the seeds, buds, and tops

of various plants. It seems strange, however, that in the deserts,

where there is so little vegetation, the bird should be able to

procure sufficient food to maintain its enormous body. Each of the

specimens which are kept at the Zoological Gardens eats on an average

a pint of barley, the same quantity of oats, four pounds' weight of

cabbage, and half a gallon of chaff, beside the buns, bread, and other

articles of food which are given to them by visitors.

Although the Ostrich, like many other inhabitants of the desert, can

live for a long time without water, yet it is forced to drink, and

like the camel, which it resembles in so many of its ways, drinks

enormously, taking in the water by a succession of gulps. When the

weather has been exceptionally hot, the Ostrich visits the

water-springs daily, and is so occupied in quenching its thirst that

it will allow the hunter to come within a very short distance. It

appears, indeed, to be almost intoxicated with its draught, and, even

when it does take the alarm, it only retreats step by step, instead of

scudding off with its usually rapid strides.

The camel-like appearance of the Ostrich has already been mentioned.

In the Arabic language the Ostrich is called by a name which signifies

camel-bird, and many of the people have an idea that it was originally

a cross between a bird and a camel.

The cry of the Ostrich is a deep bellow, which, according to

travellers in Southern Africa, so resembles the roar of the lion that

even the practised ears of the natives can scarcely distinguish the

roar of the animal from the cry of the bird. The resemblance is

increased by the fact that both the lion and Ostrich utter their cry

by night. It is evidently to this cry that the prophet Micah alludes:

"Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will

make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls" (Ostriches

in marginal reading). The cry of the variety of Ostrich which inhabits

Northern Africa is said to bear more resemblance to the lowing of an

ox than the roar of the lion; but as the bird is smaller than its

southern relative, the difference is probably accounted for.

It has been mentioned that the Ostrich has no weapons wherewith to

fight for its young; still, though it be destitute of actual weapons,

such as the spur of the gamecock or the beak and talons of the eagle,

it is not entirely defenceless. Its long and powerful legs can be

employed as weapons, and it can kick with such force that a man would

go down before the blow, and probably, if struck on the leg or arm,

have the limb broken. The blow is never delivered backward, as is the

kick of the horse, but forward, like that of the kangaroo. The natives

of the countries where it resides say that it is able to kill by its

kick the jackal that comes to steal its eggs, and that even the hyæna

and the leopard are repelled by the gigantic bird.

THE BITTERN.

Signification of the word _Kippod_--The Bittern and its general

appearance--The bird of solitude--Difficulty of detecting the

Bittern in its haunts--Mudie's description of the Bittern and

its home--The strange cry of the bird--Superstitions connected

with it--The Night-raven--Nest of the Bittern--Scarcity of the

bird at the present day--Food of the Bittern--The bird formerly

brought to table.

In the account of the hedgehog, page 80, it has been mentioned that

the Hebrew word _Kippod_, which has been rendered in the Authorized

Version as "Bittern," is in all probability the Syrian hedgehog, and

that the Jewish Bible accepts that rendering without even affixing the

mark of doubt to the word. As, however, some writers on the subject

still adhere to the more familiar rendering, a short account will be

given of the Bittern (_Botauris stellaris_).

The Bittern belongs to the same family as the herons, the cranes, and

the storks, and has many of the habits common to them all. It is,

however, essentially a bird of solitude, hating the vicinity of man,

and living in the most retired spots of marshy ground. As it sits

among the reeds and rushes, though it is a large bird, it is scarcely

visible even to a practised eye, its mottled plumage harmonizing with

surrounding objects in such a way that the feathers of the bird can

scarcely be distinguished from the sticks, stones, and grass tufts

among which it sits. The ground colour of the plumage is dark buff,

upon which are sprinkled mottlings and streaks of black, chestnut,

grey, and brown. These mottled marks harmonize with the stones and

tufts of withered grass, while the longitudinal dashes of buff and

black on the neck and breast correspond with the sticks and reeds.

In a similar manner the tiger, though so large an animal, can lie in a

very small covert of reeds without being detected, its striped fur

corresponding with the reeds themselves and the shadows thrown by

them; and the leopard can remain hidden among the boughs of a tree,

its spotted coat harmonizing with the broken light and shade of the

foliage.

[Illustration: THE BITTERN.

"_I will alto make it a possession for the bittern, and pools for

water._"--ISA. xiv. 23.]

The following powerful description of the Bittern's home is given by

Mudie: "It is a bird of rude nature, where the land knows no character

save that which the untrained working of the elements impresses upon

it; so that when any locality is in the course of being won to

usefulness, the bittern is the first to depart, and when any one is

abandoned, it is the last to return. 'The bittern shall dwell there'

is the final curse, and implies that the place is to become

uninhabited and uninhabitable, it hears not the whistle of the

ploughman, nor the sound of the mattock; and the tinkle of the

sheep-bell, or the lowing of the ox (although the latter bears so much

resemblance to its own hollow and dismal voice, that it has given

foundation to the name), is a signal for it to be gone.

"Extensive and dingy pools--if moderately upland, so much the

better--which lie in the hollows, catching, like so many traps, the

lighter and more fertile mould which the rains wash and the winds blow

from the naked heights around, and converting it into harsh and dingy

vegetation, and the pasture of those loathsome things which wriggle in

the ooze, or crawl and swim in the putrid and mantling waters, are the

habitation of the bittern.

"Places which scatter blight and mildew over every herb which is more

delicate than a sedge, a carex, or a rush, and consume every wooded

plant that is taller than the sapless and tasteless cranberry or the

weeping upland willow; which shed murrain over the quadrupeds, chills

which eat the flesh off their bones, and which, if man ventures there,

consume him by putrid fever in the hot and dry season, and shake him

to pieces with ague when the weather is cold and humid.

"Places from which the heath and the lichen stand aloof, and where

even the raven, lover of disease, and battener upon all that expires

miserably and exhausted, comes rarely and with more than wonted

caution, lest that death which he comes to seal and riot upon in

others should unawares come upon himself. The raven loves carrion on

the dry and unpoisoning moor, scents it from afar, and hastens to it

upon his best and boldest wing; but 'the reek o' the rotten fen' is

loathsome to the sense of even the raven, and it is hunger's last

pinch ere he come nigh to the chosen habitation, the only loved abode,

of the bittern."

Secure in its retreat, the Bittern keeps its place even if a sportsman

should pass by the spot on which it crouches. It will not be tempted

to leave its retreat by noise, or even by stone throwing, for it knows

instinctively that the quaking bogland which it selects as its home is

unsafe for the step of man.

The very cry of the Bittern adds to this atmosphere of desolation. By

day the bird is silent, but after the sun has gone down it utters its

strange wild cry, a sound which exactly suits the localities in which

it loves to make its habitation. During part of the year it only emits

a sharp, harsh cry as it rises on the wing, but during the breeding

season it utters the cry by which it summons its mate, one of the

strangest love-calls that can be imagined. It is something between

the neighing of a horse, the bellow of a bull, and a shriek of savage

laughter. It is very loud and deep, so that it seems to shake the

loose and marshy ground. There was formerly an idea that, when the

Bittern uttered this booming cry, it thrust its bill into the soft

ground, and so caused it to shake. In reality, the cry is uttered on

the wing, the bird wheeling in a spiral flight, and modulating its

voice in accordance with the curves which it describes in the air.

This strange sound is only uttered by the male bird.

In every country inhabited by the Bittern we find that its deep

sepulchral cry, booming out through the darkness, and heard at an

immense distance, has been dreaded as the prophecy of some evil to

come. In some parts both of England and Ireland it is known as the

Night-raven, and under that title is held in the greatest fear.

Allusion is made to this belief in the well-known passage from

Middleton's "Witch":--

"At the Night-raven's dismal voice,

When others tremble, we rejoice;

And nimbly, nimbly, dance we still

To the echoes of a hollow hill."

Under the same title Goldsmith writes of it in his "Animated Nature."

"I remember, in the place where I was a boy, with what terror the

bird's note affected the whole village,--they considered it as the

presage of some sad event, and generally found or made one to succeed

it. I do not speak ludicrously, but if any person in the neighbourhood

died, they supposed it could not be otherwise, for the night-raven had

foretold it; but if nobody happened to die, the death of a cow or a

sheep gave completion of the prophecy."

In some parts of England the Bittern is known by the odd title of

Butter-bump, a fact which was mentioned in the _Zoologist_ many years

ago:--

"There'll either be rain, or else summat waur,

When Butter-bump sings upo' Potterie car."

About Fermanagh, in Ireland, the Bittern is called Bog-bluiter, _i.e._

Bog-bleater, just as the snipe is termed the Heather-bluiter.

Like most of the long-legged wading birds, the Bittern is able to

change its shape, and apparently to alter its size, in an astonishing

manner. When it is walking over the ground, with head erect and eye

glanced vigilantly at surrounding objects, it looks a large, bold,

vigorous, and active bird. Next minute it will sink its head in its

shoulders, so that the long beak seems to project from them, and the

neck totally disappears, the feathers enveloping each other as

perfectly and smoothly as if it never had had a neck. In this attitude

it will stand for an hour at a time on one leg, with the other drawn

close to its body, looking as dull, inert, and sluggish a bird as can

well be imagined, and reduced apparently to one half of its former

size. The Bittern is represented in one of its extraordinary attitudes

on the plate which illustrates the cormorant.

The nest of the Bittern is placed on the ground, and near the water,

though the bird always takes care to build it on an elevated spot

which will not be flooded if the water should rise by reason of a

severe rain. There is, however, but little reason for the Bittern to

fear a flood, as at the time of year which is chosen, for

nest-building the floods are generally out, and the water higher than

is likely to be the case for the rest of the year. The materials of

the nest are found in marshes, and consist of leaves, reeds, and

rushes.

It will be seen from the foregoing account, that if the word _Kippod_

be translated as "Bittern," the imagery connected with it holds good,

and that no more powerful figure could be imagined for the desolation

of Babylon than the prophecy, "I will make it a possession for the

bittern, and pools of water" (Isa. xiv. 23).

[Illustration: THE CORMORANT.

"But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it."--ISA. xxxiv. 11.]

Though once plentiful in England, the Bittern is now very scarce, and

there are few who have seen it in its native haunts. Formerly, when

swamps and marshes abounded, the Bittern abounded in proportion, but

drainage and cultivation and railways have fairly driven the Bittern

out of the country, and in a few years it will be as completely

extinct in England as the bustard or the eagle. Even the great marshes

of Essex are being reclaimed and rendered unfit for the occupation of

the bird; and, from the upper part of the house where this account is

written, I can see with the aid of the telescope cornfields, and

pasture-lands, and barns, and ricks, and roads, diversifying the wide

expanses which were once covered with brackish water at every flow of

the tide, and at the ebb only left as quagmires through which the foot

of man could not pass, and on which grew the rough and scanty

herbage that flourishes under conditions that would kill almost

any other vegetation.

No longer can the Bittern find a home there. Deep ditches intersect

each other at short intervals, into which the moisture of the really

rich soil is drained, and the water that once stood in stagnant pools

which the Bittern loved is conducted into them, and discharged into

the river at the ebb tide. By the abstraction of the moisture, the

whole country has been lowered more than a foot, and, together with

the stagnant pools, the Bittern has vanished never more to return. And

here it may be mentioned that, although the Bittern inhabits none but

desolate places, it only selects those which contain capabilities of

cultivation. So, if the boom of the Bittern be heard, it may be

accepted as deciding two things--firstly, that the ground is utterly

deserted by man, and uncultivated; and secondly, that it ought to be

occupied by him, and brought into cultivation.

At the present day, the Bittern is very plentiful in the swampy

grounds which edge the Tigris, just as it used to be in the marshes

which border the Thames. Should the time come when London will have

passed away as completely as the great cities of old, and the banks of

the Thames lie as desolate as those of the Tigris, the Bittern will

reassume its sway, and its deep booming note will again be heard

through the stillness of night.

As if to add to the general effect of its character, it is essentially

a solitary bird, and in this characteristic entirely unlike its

relatives the heron and the stork, which are peculiarly sociable, and

love to gather themselves together in multitudes. But the Bittern is

never found except alone, or at the most accompanied for a time by its

mate and one or two young ones.

The localities in which it resides are sufficient evidence of the

nature of its food. Frogs appear to be its favourite diet, but it also

feeds on various fish, insects, molluscs, worms, and similar

creatures. Dull and apathetic as it appears to be, it can display

sufficient energy to capture tolerably large fish. Though the Bittern

is only about two feet in total length, one of these birds was killed,

in the stomach of which were found one perfect rudd eight inches in

length and two in depth, together with the remains of another fish, of

a full-grown frog, and of an aquatic insect. In another instance, a

Bittern had contrived to swallow an eel as long as itself; while in

many cases the remains of five or six full-grown frogs have been

found in the interior of the bird, some just swallowed, and others in

various stages of digestion.

In former times the Bittern was used as food in England, and was

considered one of the delicacies of a rich man's table. Partly on

account of its scarcity, and partly on account of a popular prejudice,

it is never eaten at the present day, and those few specimens which

are occasionally exposed for sale are merely purchased for the sake of

their plumage. The flesh of the Bittern justifies the predilection

which was formerly exhibited for it, as it is tender, well-flavoured,

and fat.

THE HERON.

The Heron mentioned as an unclean bird--The Heron used for food

in England, and considered as a delicacy--Sociable character of

the bird, and its mode of feeding--Its enormous appetite--How

the Heron fights--Ancient falconry--Nesting of the Heron--The

papyrus marshes and their dangers--Description of the

papyrus--Vessels of bulrushes--The Egret and its beautiful

plumage--Uses of the train feathers.

The name of the Heron is only mentioned twice in the

Scriptures--namely, in the two parallel passages of Lev. xi. 19 and

Deut. xiv. 18; in both of which places the Heron is ranked among the

unclean birds that might not be eaten.

In some of the cases where beasts or birds are prohibited as food, the

prohibition seems scarcely needed. To us of the present day this seems

to be the case with the Heron, as it is never brought to table. The

reason for this disuse of the Heron as food is not that it is unfit

for the table, but that it has become so scarce by the spread of

cultivation and house-building, that it has been gradually abandoned

as a practically unattainable article of diet. The flesh of the Heron,

like that of the bittern, is remarkably excellent, and in the former

days, when it was comparatively plentiful, and falconry was the

ordinary amusement of the rich, the Heron formed a very important dish

at every great banquet.

[Illustration: THE HERON.

"_These are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls

... the stork, the heron after her kind._"--DEUT. xi. 13, 19.]

The bird, however, must be eaten when young. A gentleman who liked to

try experiments for himself in the matter of food, found that, if

young Herons were properly cooked, they formed a most excellent dish,

equal, in his opinion, to grouse. Wishing to have his own judgment

confirmed by that of others, he had several of them trussed and

dressed like wild geese, and served up at table under that name. The

guests approved greatly of the bird, and compared it to hare, the

resemblance being further increased by the dark colour of the flesh.

There was not the slightest fishy flavour about the bird. This,

however, is apt to be found in the older birds, but can be removed by

burying them in the earth for several days, just as is done with the

solan goose and one or two other sea-birds.

Several species of Heron inhabit Palestine, of which the common Heron

(_Ardea cinerea_), with which we are so familiar in England, is

perhaps the most plentiful; and it is to this bird that the

prohibition chiefly extends. But there were several other species of

the bird, as is implied by the language of the law, which prohibited

the Heron "after her kind." The Egrets are probably included in this

category; and, if the word _kippod_ be really the hedgehog, it is

tolerably certain that the bittern was included under the general term

Anâphah, which is given in the Authorized Version as Heron. The Jewish

Bible follows the same reading, but affixes the mark of doubt to the

word.

The abundance of birds belonging to the Heron tribe is well shown by

some of the paintings and carvings on Egyptian monuments, in which

various species of Herons and other water-birds are depicted as living

among the papyrus reeds, exactly the locality in which they are most

plentiful at the present day.

Unlike the bittern, the Heron is a most sociable bird, and loves not

only to live, but even to feed, in company with others of its own

species. In Mr. Waterton's grounds, near Walton, I have watched the

Herons feeding in close proximity to each other. The birds were fond

of wading stealthily along the edge of the lake until they came to a

suitable spot, where they would stand immersed in the water up to the

thighs, waiting patiently for their prey. They stood as still as if

they were carved out of wood, the ripples of the lake reflected on

their plumage as the breeze ruffled the surface of the water. Suddenly

there would be a quick dive of the beak, either among the reeds or in

the water, and each stroke signified that the Heron had caught its

prey.

Frogs and small fishes are the usual food of the Heron, though it

often grapples with larger prey, having been seen to capture an eel of

considerable size in its beak. Under such circumstances it leaves the

water, with the fish in its mouth, and beats it violently against a

stone so as to kill it. Now and then the bird is vanquished in the

struggle by the fish, several instances being known in which an eel,

in its endeavours to escape, has twisted itself so tightly round the

neck of the bird that both have been found lying dead on the shore.

In one such case the Heron's beak had struck through the eyes of the

eel, so that the bird could not disengage itself. In another the Heron

had tried to swallow an eel which was much too large for it, and had

been nearly choked by its meal. The eel must necessarily have been a

very large one, as the Heron has a wonderful capacity for devouring

fish. Even when quite young, it can swallow a fish as large as a

herring, and when it is full grown it will eat four or five large

herrings at a meal.

Now when we remember that an Englishman of average appetite finds one

herring to form a very sufficient breakfast, we can easily imagine

what must be the digestive power of a bird which, though very inferior

to man in point of bulk, can eat four times as much at a meal. Even

though the fish be much larger in diameter than the neck of the bird,

the Heron can swallow it as easily as a small snake swallows a large

frog. The neck merely seems to expand as if it were made of

Indiarubber, the fish slips down, and the bird is ready for another.

Generally the Herons feed after sunset, but I have frequently seen

them busily engaged in catching their prey in full daylight, when the

sunbeams were playing in the water so as to produce the beautiful

rippling effect on the Heron's plumage which has already been

mentioned.

The Heron does not restrict itself to fishes or reptiles, but, like

the bittern, feeds on almost any kind of aquatic animal which comes

within its reach. When it lives near tidal rivers, it feeds largely on

the shrimps, prawns, green crabs, and various other crustacea; and

when it lives far inland, it still makes prey of the fresh-water

shrimps, the water-beetles, and the boat-flies, and similar aquatic

creatures. In fact, it acts much after the fashion of the lions,

tigers, and leopards, which put up with locusts and beetles when they

can find no larger prey.

The long beak of the Heron is not merely an instrument by which it can

obtain food, but is also a weapon of considerable power. When

attacked, it aims a blow at the eye of its opponent, and makes the

stroke with such rapidity that the foe is generally blinded before

perceiving the danger. When domesticated, it has been known to keep

possession of the enclosure in which it lived, and soon to drive away

dogs by the power of its beak. When it is young, it is quite helpless,

its very long legs being unable to support its body, which is entirely

bare of plumage, and has a very unprepossessing appearance.

The flight of the Heron is very powerful, its wings being very large

in proportion to its slender body. Sometimes the bird takes to

ascending in a spiral line, and then the flight is as beautiful as it

is strong. When chased by the falcon it mostly ascends in this manner,

each of the two birds trying to rise above the other.

The nest of the Heron is always made on the top of some lofty tree,

whenever the bird builds in places where trees can be found; and as

the bird is an eminently sociable one, a single nest is very seldom

found, the Heron being as fond of society as the rook. In England the

heronries are invariably found in clumps of trees, the nests of the

birds being quite close together. In some parts of Palestine, however,

where trees are very scarce, the Heron is obliged to choose some other

locality for its nest, and in that case prefers the great thickets of

papyrus reeds which are found in the marshes, and which are even more

inaccessible than the tops of trees.

One of these marshes is well described by Mr. Tristram in his "Land of

Israel." "The whole marsh is marked in the map as impassable; and most

truly it is so. I never anywhere have met with a swamp so vast and

utterly impenetrable. First there is an ordinary bog, which takes one

up to one's knees in water; then, after half a mile, a belt of deeper

swamp, where the yellow water lily (_Nuphar lutea_) flourishes; then a

belt of tall reeds; the open water covered with white water-lily

(_Nymphæa alba_); and beyond again an impenetrable wilderness of

papyrus (_Papyrus antiquorum_), in the beautiful forest of which Dr.

Thomson has not recognised the celebrated material of Egypt, though he

has well described it under its Arabic name, 'babeer' ("Land and

Book," 259).

"The papyrus extends right across to the east side. A false step off

its roots will take the intruder over head in suffocating peat-mud. We

spent a long time in attempting to effect an entrance, and at last

gave it up, satisfied that the marsh birds were not to be had. In

fact, the whole is simply a floating bog of several miles square; a

very thin crust of vegetation covers an unknown depth of water; and,

if the explorer breaks through this, suffocation is imminent. Some of

the Arabs, who were tilling the plain for cotton, assured us that even

a wild boar never got through it. We shot two bitterns, but in

endeavouring to retrieve them I slipped from the root on which I was

standing, and was drawn down in a moment, only saving myself from

drowning by my gun, which had providentially caught across a papyrus

stem."

It may here be mentioned that the bulrush of Scripture is undoubtedly

the papyrus. The ark or basket of bulrushes, lined with slime and

pitch, in which Moses was laid, was made of the papyrus, which at the

present day is used for the manufacture of baskets, mats, sandals, and

for the thatching of houses. Many tribes which inhabit the banks of

the Nile make simple boats, or rather rafts, of the papyrus, which

they cut and tie in bundles; and it is worthy of notice that the

Australian native makes a reed boat in almost exactly the same manner.

Compare Is. xviii. 1, 2: "Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which

is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.

"That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes."

Did we not know that vessels are actually made of bulrushes at the

present day, a custom which has survived from very ancient times, we

might find a difficulty in understanding this passage, while the

meaning is intelligible enough when it is viewed by the light of the

knowledge that the Ethiopian of the present day takes gold, and ivory,

and other merchandise down the Nile in his boat of papyrus (or

bulrush) reeds tied together.

The papyrus runs from ten to fifteen or sixteen feet in height, so

that the Herons are at no loss for suitable spots whereon to place

their nests. The name "papyrus," from which our word "paper" is

derived, is nothing more than a Latinized form of the old Arabic name

"babeer." It is never found except in muddy and swampy places such as

those which have already been mentioned. Thus we have in Job viii. 11

a reference to this quality of the papyrus: "Can the rush grow up

without mire? can the flag grow without water?"

The Egrets, which are probably included under the generic title of

Anâphah, are birds of passage, and at the proper season are plentiful

in Palestine. These pretty birds much resemble the heron in general

form, and in general habits both birds are very much alike, haunting

the marshes and edges of lakes and streams, and feeding upon the frogs

and other inhabitants of the water. In countries where rice is

cultivated, the Egret may generally be seen in the artificial swamps

in which that plant is sown. The colour of the Egret is pure white,

with the exception of the train. This consists of a great number of

long slender feathers of a delicate straw colour. Like those which

form the train of the peacock, they fall over the feathers of the

tail, and entirely conceal them. The train of the Egret is highly

valued in the East, brushes being made of them wherewith flies can be

driven away, or delicate articles dusted. As the bird is a very shy

and wary one, these feathers cannot be easily procured, especially as

they do not make their appearance until the bird has reached its third

year, and had time to learn the signs of approaching danger. The Egret

is rather larger than the heron, a full-grown specimen measuring about

four feet in length, whereas the heron is scarcely more than a yard in

total length. The train-feathers of the Egret add, however, to the

apparent size of the bird.

THE CRANE.

Various passages in which the Crane is mentioned--Its migratory

habits, and loud voice--Geographical range of the Crane--The

bird once plentiful in the fen districts of England--Its

favourite roosting-places--Size of the Crane, and measurement of

the wings--The Crane once used as food--Plumes of the Crane and

their use--Structure of the vocal organs--Nest and eggs of the

Crane.

In the description of the dove and the swallow two passages have been

quoted in which the name of the CRANE is mentioned, one referring to

its voice, and the other to its migratory instinct. The first passage

occurs in Isa. xxxviii. 14: "Like a crane or swallow, so did I

chatter;" and the other in Jer. viii. 7: "The turtle and the crane and

the swallow observe the time of their coming."

It is rather remarkable that in both these cases the word "Crane" is

used in connexion with the swallow, or rather the swift, and that in

both instances the names of the birds should have been interchanged.

If we refer to the original of these passages, we shall find that the

former of them would run thus, "Like a _sis_ or an _agur_" and the

latter thus, "The turtle and the _sis_ and the _agur_." That in these

passages the interpretation of the words _sis_ and _agur_ have been

interchanged has already been mentioned, and, as the former has been

described under the name of swallow or swift, we shall now treat of

the latter under the title of Crane.

[Illustration: THE CRANE.

"_Like a crane ... so did I chatter._"--ISA. xxxviii. 14.]

The species here mentioned is the common Crane (_Grus cinerea_), a

bird which has a very wide range, and has occasionally made its

appearance in one or two parts of Great Britain. In Ireland it is

thought to be common, but in that country the word Crane is simply a

popular misnomer for the heron. As is the case with many wild birds,

especially those of the larger kinds, the Crane appears to have been a

much more frequent visitor of our shores than can be the case in the

present day, when the land is thickly populated, and not a strange

bird can show itself without running the risk of being shot.

As might be imagined, the Cranes favoured the great fen-districts of

England, especially those of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, where it

used to be found in large flocks. That in those days it bred in

England is evident from Acts of Parliament in the reigns of Henry

VIII. and Edward VI., in which reigns the taking of a Crane's egg was

punished with a fine of twenty pence, in those days a considerable

sum, being nearly four times the average daily wages of a working man.

A small flock of Cranes was seen in Zetland in 1807, but at the

present time drainage, cultivation, and house-building have as

effectually extirpated the gregarious Crane as the solitary bittern.

The Crane performs its annual migrations in company, vast flocks of

many thousand individuals passing like great clouds at an immense

height, whence their trumpet-like cry is audible for a great distance

round, and attracts the ear if not the eye to them. Thus we have at a

glance both the characteristics to which reference is made in the

Scriptures, namely, the noisy cry and the habit of migration.

It is a very gregarious bird, associating with its comrades in flocks,

just as do the starlings and rooks of our own country, and, like these

birds, has favourite roosting-places in which it passes the night.

When evening approaches, the Cranes may be seen in large flocks

passing to their roosting-places, and, on account of their great size,

having a very strange effect. A fair-sized Crane will measure seven

feet across the expanded wings, so that even a solitary bird has a

very imposing effect when flying, while that of a large flock of

Cranes on the wing is simply magnificent.

The spots which the Crane selects for its roosting-places are

generally of the same character. Being in some respects a wary bird,

though it is curiously indifferent in others, it will not roost in any

place near bushes, rocks, or other spots which might serve to conceal

an enemy. The locality most favoured by the Crane is a large, smooth,

sloping bank, far from any spot wherein an enemy may be concealed. The

birds keep a careful watch during the night, and it is impossible for

any foe to approach them without being discovered. The Crane is noisy

on the wing, and, whether it be soaring high over head on its long

migratory journeys, or be merely flying at dusk to its roosting-place,

it continually utters its loud, clangorous cry.

The food of the Crane is much like that of the heron, but in addition

to the frogs, fish, worms, and insects, it eats vegetable substances.

Sometimes it is apt to get into cultivated grounds, and then does much

damage to the crops, pecking up the ground with its long beak, partly

for the sake of the worms, grubs, and other creatures, and partly for

the sake of the sprouting seeds.

Although by reason of its scarcity the Crane has been abandoned as

food, its flesh is really excellent, and in former days was valued

very highly, and was looked upon much in the same light as grouse or

blackcock by ourselves at the present day. The two facts, that it was

once comparatively plentiful and that it was highly valued for the

table, are shown by an old record of the banquet following the

enthronization of an Archbishop of Canterbury, at which two hundred

and four Cranes were served at table. Even in those days the bird was

a very valuable one, the average cost exceeding three shillings, so

that none but the wealthy could indulge in such a luxury.

Like the egret, the Crane is remarkable for the flowing plumes of the

back, which fall over the tail feathers, and form a train. These

feathers are much used as plumes, both for purposes of dress and as

brushes or flappers wherewith to drive off the flies. By reason of

this conformation, some systematic zoologists have thought that it has

some affinity to the ostrich, the rhoea, and similar birds, and that

the resemblance is strengthened by the structure of the digestive

organs, which are suited to vegetable as well as animal substances,

the stomach being strong and muscular.

The peculiar voice of the Crane, which it is so fond of using, and to

which reference is made in the Scriptures, is caused by a peculiar

structure of the windpipe, which is exceedingly long, and, instead of

going straight to the lungs, undergoes several convolutions about the

breast-bone, and then proceeds to the lungs.

The Crane makes its nest on low ground, generally among osiers or

reeds, and it lays only two eggs, pale olive in colour, dashed

profusely with black and brown streaks.

THE STORK.

Signification of the Hebrew word _Chasidah_--Various passages in

which it is mentioned--The Chasidah therefore a large,

wide-winged, migratory bird--Its identification with the

Stork--Derivation of its Hebrew name--The Stork always

protected--Uses of the tail--Its mode of quartering the ground

in search of food--Migratory habits of the Stork--Nesting of the

bird, and its favourite localities--The fir-trees of

Palestine--Love of the Stork for its young.

In the Old Testament there are several passages wherein is mentioned

the word _Chasidah_. We will take these passages in their order. In

the first place, we find that the Chasidah is enumerated in Lev. xi.

19 among the unclean creatures: "And the stork, the heron after her

kind, and the lapwing, and the bat." The parallel passage in Deut.

xiv. 18 has precisely the same words. Next we have the passage in Job

xxxix. 13: "Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or the

feathers of the chasidah and ostrich?" (marginal reading.) Next we

come to Ps. civ. 16, 17: "The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the

cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted.

"Where the birds make their nests: as for the chasidah, the fir-trees

are her house."

Passing to the prophets, we find that Jeremiah uses the same word

(viii. 7): "Yea, the chasidah in the heaven knoweth her appointed

times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time

of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord."

The last mention of the word occurs in Zech. v. 9: "Then lifted I up

mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the

wind was in their wings; (for they had wings like the wings of a

chasidah;) and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the

heaven."

We learn from these passages that, in the first place, the Chasidah

was certainly a bird, as it is mentioned in connexion with other

birds, and is said to have wings and feathers. Our next business is to

find out what particular bird is meant by the Chasidah. It is evident

from the passage in Jeremiah that it is a migratory bird; from that in

the Psalms, that it builds its nest upon a fir-tree; and from those in

Job and Zechariah, that it is a large-winged bird. These details very

much narrow the question, which is still further limited by the fact

that we have already identified the crane and the heron.

The Authorized Version invariably renders the word Chasidah as

"Stork," and is undoubtedly right; though the Septuagint has no less

than four different translations, reading it as "heron" in one place,

"pelican" in another, "hoopoe" in another, and in the fourth instance

leaving the word untranslated, but Græcized into the form of _asida_.

It would have been better if the last-mentioned plan had been followed

throughout.

There is, however, no doubt that the Authorized Version is perfectly

correct; and it is followed by the Jewish Bible, in which no mark of

doubt is affixed to the word.

In Buxtorf's Lexicon there is a curious derivation of the word. He

says that the word _Chasidah_ is derived from _chesed_, a word that

signifies benevolence. This word is used in many familiar passages;

such as, "unworthy of all the _benefits_," "according to the multitude

of Thy _mercies_," "exercising _pity_," and so forth.

According to some writers, the name was given to the Stork because it

was supposed to be a bird remarkable for its filial piety; "for the

storks in their turn support their parents in their old age: they

allow them to rest their necks on their bodies during migration, and,

if the elders are tired, the young ones take them on their backs."

According to others, the name is given to the Stork because it

exercises kindness towards its companions in bringing them food; but

in all cases the derivation of the word is acknowledged to be the

same.

Partly in consequence of this idea, which is a very old and almost

universal one, and partly on account of the great services rendered by

the bird in clearing the ground of snakes, insects, and garbage, the

Stork has always been protected through the East, as it is to the

present day in several parts of Europe. The slaughter of a Stork, or

even the destruction of its eggs, would be punished with a heavy fine;

and in consequence of the immunity which it enjoys, it loves to haunt

the habitations of mankind.

In many of the Continental towns, where sanitary regulations are not

enforced, the Stork serves the purpose of a scavenger, and may be seen

walking about the market-place, waiting for the offal of fish, fowls,

and the like, which are simply thrown on the ground for the Storks to

eat. In Eastern lands the Stork enjoys similar privileges, and we may

infer that the bird was perfectly familiar both to the writers of the

various Scriptural books in which it was mentioned, and to the people

for whom these books were intended.

When they settle upon a tract of ground, the Storks divide it among

themselves in a manner that seems to have a sort of system in it,

spreading themselves over it with wonderful regularity, each bird

appearing to take possession of a definite amount of ground. By this

mode of proceeding, the ground is rapidly cleared of all vermin; the

Storks examining their allotted space with the keenest scrutiny, and

devouring every reptile, mouse, worm, grub, or insect that they can

find on it. Sometimes they will spread themselves in this manner over

a vast extent of country, arriving suddenly, remaining for several

months, and departing without giving any sign of their intention to

move.

The wings of the Stork, which are mentioned in Holy Writ, are very

conspicuous, and are well calculated to strike an imaginative mind.

The general colour of the bird is white, while the quill feathers of

the wings are black; so that the effect of the spread wings is very

striking, an adult bird measuring about seven feet across, when

flying. As the body, large though it may be, is comparatively light

when compared with the extent of wing, the flight is both lofty and

sustained, the bird flying a very great height, and, when migrating,

is literally the "stork in the heavens."

Next we come to the migratory habits of the Stork.

Like the swallow, the Stork resorts year after year to the same

spots; and when it has once fixed on a locality for its nest, that

place will be assuredly taken as regularly as the breeding-season

comes round. The same pair are sure to return to their well-known

home, notwithstanding the vast distances over which they pass, and the

many lands in which they sojourn. Should one of the pair die, the

other finds a mate in a very short time, and thus the same home is

kept up by successive generations of Storks, much as among men one

ancestral mansion is inhabited by a series of members of the same

family.

So well is this known, that when a pair of Storks have made their nest

in a human habitation their return is always expected, and when they

arrive the absentees are welcomed on all sides. In many countries

breeding-places are specially provided for the Storks; and when one of

them is occupied for the first time, the owner of the house looks upon

it as a fortunate omen.

The localities chosen by the Stork for its nest vary according to the

surrounding conditions. The foundation which a Stork requires is a

firm platform, the more elevated the better, but the bird seems to

care little whether this platform be on rocks, buildings, or trees.

If, for example, it builds its nest in craggy places, far from the

habitations of man, it selects some flat ledge for the purpose,

preferring those that are at the extreme tops of the rocks. The summit

of a natural pinnacle is a favourite spot with the Stork.

In many cases the Stork breeds among old ruins, and under such

circumstances it is fond of building its nest on the tops of pillars

or towers, the summits of arches, and similar localities. When it

takes up its abode among mankind, it generally selects the

breeding-places which have been built for it by those who know its

taste, but it frequently chooses the top of a chimney, or some such

locality.

Sometimes, however, it is obliged to build in spots where it can find

neither rocks nor buildings, and in such cases it builds on trees,

and, like the heron, is sociable in its nesting, a whole community

residing in a clump of trees. It is not very particular about the kind

of tree, provided that it be tolerably tall, and strong enough to bear

the weight of its enormous nest; and the reader will at once see that

the fir-trees are peculiarly fitted to be the houses for the Stork.

As is the case with so many zoological words, botanical names seem to

be frequently used in a collective sense by the scriptural writers,

several species being signified by a single name. Thus the word which

is in some cases translated as "fir," is in some rendered as

"pine-tree," in others as "juniper," and in others as "cypress." In

the present case it is undoubtedly translated rightly, though in the

Jewish Bible it is rendered as "cypress:" "The trees of the Eternal

satisfy themselves, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted; where

birds make their nests: as for the stork, cypresses are its house."

The particular species of fir-tree to which the Psalmist alludes is

probably the Aleppo pine (_Pinus halepensis_), which comes next to the

great cedars of Lebanon in point of size. It was this tree that

furnished the timber and planks for Solomon's temple and palace, a

timber which was evidently held in the greatest estimation. This tree

fulfils all the conditions which a Stork would require in

nest-building. It is lofty, and its boughs are sufficiently horizontal

to form a platform for the nest, and strong enough to sustain it. On

account of its value, and the reckless manner in which it has been cut

down without new plantations being formed, the Aleppo pine has

vanished from many parts of Palestine wherein it was formerly common,

and would afford a dwelling-place for the Stork.

There are, however, several other species of fir which are common in

various parts of the country, each species flourishing in the soil

best suited to it, so that the Stork would never be at a loss to find

a nesting-place in a country which furnished so many trees suitable to

its purposes.

As may be expected from the localities chosen by the Stork for its

breeding-place, its nest is very large and heavy. It is constructed

with very little skill, and is scarcely more than a huge quantity of

sticks, reeds, and similar substances, heaped together, and having in

the middle a slight depression in which the eggs are laid. These eggs

are usually three, or perhaps four in number, and now and then a fifth

is seen, and are of a very pale buff or cream colour.

[Illustration: THE STORK.

"As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house."--PS. civ. 17.]

As is the case with the heron, the young of the Stork are quite

helpless when hatched, and are most ungainly little beings, with their

long legs doubled under them, unable to sustain their round and almost

naked bodies, while their large beaks are ever gaping for food.

Those of my readers who have had young birds of any kind must

have noticed the extremely grotesque appearance which they

possess when they hold up their heads and cry for food, with their

bills open to an almost incredible extent. In such birds as the Stork,

the heron, and others of the tribe, the grotesque appearance is

exaggerated in proportion to the length and gape of the bill.

The Stork is noted for being a peculiarly kind and loving parent to

its young, in that point fully deserving the derivation of its Hebrew

name, though its love manifests itself towards the young, and not

towards the parent.

The Rev. H. B. Tristram mentions from personal experience an instance

of the watchful care exercised by the Stork over its young. "The

writer was once in camp near an old ruined tower in the plains of

Zana, south of the Atlas, where a pair of storks had their nest. The

four young might often be seen from a little distance, surveying the

prospect from their lonely height, but whenever any of the human party

happened to stroll near the tower, one of the old storks, invisible

before, would instantly appear, and, lighting on the nest, put its

feet gently on the necks of all the young, so as to hold them down out

of sight till the stranger had passed, snapping its bill meanwhile,

and assuming a grotesque air of indifference, as unconscious of there

being anything under its charge." (Smith's "Dict. Bible," vol. iii. p.

1384.)

The snapping noise which is here mentioned is the only sound produced

by the Stork, which is an absolutely silent bird, as far as voice is

concerned.

There is another species of Stork found in Palestine, to which the

fir-trees are especially a home. This is the Black Stork (_Ciconia

nigra_), which in some parts of the country is even more plentiful

than its white relative, which it resembles in almost every

particular, except that it has a dark head and back, the feathers

being glossed with purple and green like those of the magpie. This

species, which is undoubtedly included in the Hebrew word _chasidah_,

always makes its nest on trees whenever it can find them, and in some

of the more densely wooded parts of Palestine is in consequence

plentiful, placing its nest in the deepest parts of the forests. When

it cannot obtain trees, it will build its nest on rocky ledges. It

lays two or three eggs of a greenish white colour.

Like the preceding species, the Black Stork is easily domesticated.

Colonel Montague kept one which was very tame, and would follow its

keeper like a dog. Its tameness enabled its proceedings to be closely

watched, and its mode of feeding was thereby investigated. It was fond

of examining the rank grass and mud for food, and while doing so

always kept its bill a little open, so as to pounce down at once on

any insect or reptile that it might disturb.

Eels were its favourite food, and it was such an adept at catching

them that it was never seen to miss one, no matter how small or quick

it might be. As soon as it had caught one of these active fish, it

went to some dry place, and then disabled its prey by shaking and

beating it against the ground before swallowing it, whereas many birds

that feed on fish swallow their prey as soon as it is caught. The

Stork was never seen to swim as the heron sometimes does, but it would

wade as long as it could place its feet on the bed of the stream, and

would strain its head and the whole of its neck under water in

searching for fish.

It was of a mild and peaceable disposition, and, even if angered, did

not attempt to bite or strike with its beak, but only denoted its

displeasure by blowing the air sharply from its lungs, and nodding its

head repeatedly. After the manner of Storks, it always chose an

elevated spot on which to repose, and took its rest standing on one

leg, with its head so sunk among the feathers of its shoulders that

scarcely any part of it was visible, the hinder part of the head

resting on the back, and the bill lying on the fore-part of the neck.

Though the bird is so capable of domestication, it does not of its own

accord haunt the dwellings of men, like the White Stork, but avoids

the neighbourhood of houses, and lives in the most retired places it

can find. It may generally be seen in marshy grounds, spending the

greater part of its time in procuring food, or in going to and from

its nest while engaged in the task of feeding its young.

THE SWAN.

Signification of the word _Tinshemeth_--The Gallinule and the

Ibis--Appearance and habits of the Hyacinthine Gallinule--A

strange use for the bird--The White or Sacred Ibis--The bird

mentioned by Herodotus--The Glossy Ibis, or Black

Ibis--Veneration with which the bird was regarded.

In the two parallel chapters of Lev. xi. 18 and Deut. xiv. 16, the

Hebrew word _tinshemeth_ is found, and evidently signifies some kind

of bird which was forbidden as food. After stating (Lev. xi. 13) that

"these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls;

they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination," the sacred lawgiver

proceeds to enumerate a number of birds, nearly all of which have

already been described. Among them occurs the name of _tinshemeth_,

between the great owl and the pelican.

What was the precise species of bird which was signified by this name

it is impossible to say, but there is no doubt that it could not have

been the Swan, according to the rendering of the Authorized Version.

The Swan is far too rare a bird in Palestine to have been specially

mentioned in the law of Moses, and in all probability it was totally

unknown to the generality of the Israelites. Even had it been known to

them, and tolerably common, there seems to be no reason why it should

have been reckoned among the list of unclean birds.

On turning to the Hebrew Bible, we find that the word is left

untranslated, and simply given in its Hebrew form, thereby signifying

that the translators could form no opinion whatever of the proper

rendering of the word. The Septuagint translates the Tinshemeth as the

Porphyrio or Ibis, and the Vulgate follows the same rendering. Later

naturalists have agreed that the Septuagint and Vulgate have the far

more probable reading; and, as two birds are there mentioned, they

will be both described.

[Illustration: IBIS AND GALLINULE (SWAN OF SCRIPTURES).

"_These are they of which ye shall not eat ... the little owl, and the

great owl, and the swan._" DEUT. xiv. 12, 16.]

The first is the Porphyrio, by which we may understand the HYACINTHINE

GALLINULE (_Porphyrio veterum_). All the birds of this group are

remarkable for the enormous length of their toes, by means of which

they are enabled to walk upon the loose herbage that floats on the

surface of the water as firmly as if they were treading on land. Their

feet are also used, like those of the parrots, in conveying food to

the mouth. We have in England a very familiar example of the

Gallinules in the common water-hen, or moor-hen, the toes of which are

of great proportionate length, though not so long as those of the

Purple Gallinule, which almost rivals in this respect the jacanas of

South America and China. The water-rail, and corncrake or land-rail,

are also allied to the Gallinules.

The Hyacinthine Gallinule derives its name from its colour, which is a

rich and variable blue, taking a turquoise hue on the head, neck,

throat, and breast, and deep indigo on the back. The large bill and

the legs are red. Like many other birds, however, it varies much in

colour according to age.

It has a very wide geographical range, being found in many parts of

Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is common in the marshy districts of

Palestine, where its rich blue plumage and its large size, equalling

that of a duck, render it very conspicuous. The large and powerful

bill of this bird betokens the nature of its food, which consists

almost entirely of hard vegetable substances, the seeds of aquatic

herbage forming a large portion of its diet. When it searches for food

on the seashore, it eats the marine vegetation, mixing with this diet

other articles of an animal nature, such as molluscs and small

reptiles.

Though apparently a clumsy bird, it moves with wonderful speed,

running not only swiftly but gracefully, its large feet being no

hindrance to the rapidity of its movements. It is mostly found in

shallow marshes, where the construction of its feet enables it to

traverse both the soft muddy ground and the patches of firm earth with

equal ease. Its wings, however, are by no means equal to its legs

either in power or activity; and, like most of the rail tribe, it

never takes to the air unless absolutely obliged to do so.

The nest of the Hyacinthine Gallinule is made on the sedge-patches

which dot the marshes, much like that of the coot. The nest, too,

resembles that of the coot, being composed of reeds, sedges, and other

aquatic plants. The eggs are three or four in number, white in colour,

and nearly spherical in form.

The ancients were well acquainted with the Hyacinthine Gallinule, and

were in the habit of keeping it tamed in their houses, in which case

it was prized by the men and hated by the women. There was a popular

idea about the bird that it always detected any infidelity on the part

of the female sex, and that when the master of the house came home the

bird acquainted him with the crime by making gestures as if it wished

to strangle itself.

There are several species of Gallinule, but that which has just been

described is the most conspicuous, and therefore, if either of the

Gallinules be the Tinshemeth of the Jewish lawgiver, we may safely

conclude that the Hyacinthine Gallinule is the species.

As, however, the Ibis has an equal claim to the title of Tinshemeth,

we will devote a few lines to a description of the bird. The

particular species which would be signified by the word _tinshemeth_

would undoubtedly be the WHITE or SACRED IBIS (_Ibis religiosa_), a

bird which derives its name of Sacred from the reverence with which it

was held by the ancient Egyptians, and the frequency with which its

figure occurs in the monumental sculptures. It was also thought worthy

of being embalmed, and many mummies of the Ibis have been found in the

old Egyptian burial-places, having been preserved for some three

thousand years.

In his account of the various animals which were accounted sacred by

the Egyptians, Herodotus mentions the Ibis, mixing up a considerable

amount of truth with a few errors, and a good deal of superstition.

Having heard of the relics of some winged serpents near the city of

Buto, he went to see them. "When I arrived there I saw bones and

spines of serpents, in such quantities as it would be impossible to

describe: there were heaps of these spinal bones, some large, some

smaller, and some still less, and there were great numbers of them.

"The place in which these spinal bones lie scattered is of the

following description:--It is a narrow pass between two mountains into

a spacious plain; this plain is contiguous to the plain of Egypt. It

is reported that, at the beginning of spring, winged serpents fly from

Arabia towards Egypt; but that the ibises, a sort of bird, meet them

at the pass, and do not allow the serpents to go by, but kill them.

For this service the Arabians say that the ibis is highly reverenced

by the Egyptians, and the Egyptians acknowledge that they reverence

these birds for this reason.

"The ibis is of the following description. It is all over a deep

black, it has the legs of a crane, its beak is much curved, and it is

about the size of a _crex_. Such is the form of the black ones that

fight with the serpents. But those that are commonly conversant among

men (for there are two species) are bare on the head and the whole

neck; have white plumage, except on the head, the throat, and the tips

of the wings and extremity of the tail. In all these parts that I have

mentioned they are of a deep black; in their legs and back they are

like the other kind." (Herod. "Euterpe," 75, 76, Cary's translation.)

Putting aside the mention of the winged serpents, of which he only

learned by hearsay, we find that Herodotus has given a very fair

account of two species of Ibis,--namely, the GLOSSY or GREEN IBIS

(_Ibis falcinellus_), and the White or Sacred Ibis, whose scientific

names have already been given.

The Glossy Ibis has been known to come as far as the British shores,

but it requires a much warmer climate than that of England in order to

pass its life in a state of health. It has, however, a large

geographical range, being found both in Northern Africa and Southern

America. It derives its popular name from the rich glossy plumage,

which shines with a metallic or rather a silken lustre that is

singularly beautiful in life, and is with great difficulty preserved

in stuffed specimens.

The principal hue of the bird is very deep green, but it is so "shot"

with reflections of rich purple, blue, and gold, that it alters its

hue with every change of light. At a little distance the deep green

plumage looks quite black, as does that of the magpie, and on this

account it has been called by Herodotus the Black Ibis.

This species is popularly called Abou Menzel, or Father Sickle-bill,

on account of its slender curved beak, and in some places goes by the

name of Abou Hannes, or Father John, because it makes its appearance

upon or about St. John's Day. From all appearance, it does not feed

upon snakes, seeming to restrict itself to molluscs and similar food;

and, on account of this discrepancy with the account given by

Herodotus, many writers have doubted whether it could really be the

bird meant by that historian and traveller. But we must remember that,

though he saw both the black and the white Ibis, he did not see

either of them eat snakes; and as those who told him of their

serpent-devouring habits stated at the same time that the snakes had

wings like those of the bat, we may summarily dismiss their account

from the argument.

The White Ibis, however, is the bird which was most highly venerated

by the Egyptians, and probably for that very reason was placed among

the list of prohibited birds in the ancient law. It is about as large

as an ordinary hen, and, as its name imports, has the greater part of

its plumage white, the ends of the wing-feathers and the coverts being

black, with violet reflections. The long neck is black and bare, and

has a most curious aspect, looking as if it were made of an old black

kid glove, very much crumpled, but still retaining its gloss.

The reason for the extreme veneration with which the bird was regarded

by the ancient Egyptians seems rather obscure. It is probable,

however, that the partial migration of the bird was connected in their

minds with the rise of the Nile, a river as sacred to the old

Egyptians as the Ganges to the modern Hindoo. As soon as the water

begins to rise, the Ibis makes its appearance, sometimes alone, and

sometimes in small troops. It haunts the banks of the river, and

marshy places in general, diligently searching for food by the aid of

its long bill. It can fly well and strongly, and it utters at

intervals a rather loud cry, dipping its head at every utterance.

Specimens of these birds can be seen at the Zoological Gardens.

THE CORMORANT.

The word _Shâlâk_ and its signification--The Greek

Catarrhactes--Habits of the Cormorant--The bird trained to catch

fish--Mode of securing its prey--Nests and eggs of the

Cormorant--Nesting in fir-trees--Flesh of the bird.

Although in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures the word

Cormorant occurs three times, there is no doubt that in two of the

passages the Hebrew word ought to have been rendered as Pelican, as we

shall see when we come presently to the description of that bird.

In the two parallel passages, Lev. xi. 17 and Deut. xiv. 17, a

creature called the Shâlâk is mentioned in the list of prohibited

meats. That the Shâlâk must be a bird is evident from the context, and

we are therefore only left to discover what sort of bird it may be. On

looking at the etymology of the word we find that it is derived from

a root which signifies hurling or casting down, and we may therefore

presume that the bird is one which plunges or sweeps down upon its

prey.

All Hebraists have agreed that it is one of the sea-birds, and this

view of the case seems to be taken in the Septuagint, where the word

is rendered by Catarrhactes, a term that has the same derivation in

Greek as the Shâlâk in Hebrew. It is indeed the same word from which

we form our term "cataract," to express the manner in which the water

plunges or is hurled down from a height.

In consequence of this derivation, several writers have thought that

the Shâlâk might be the Solan goose, or gannet, a bird which lives on

fish, and always takes its prey by darting down upon it from a height.

This bird, however, although it certainly answers completely to the

sense of the word _shâlâk_, is not common enough on the shores of

Palestine to be specially mentioned among the unclean birds. Other

writers, seeing this difficulty, have thought that the Shâlâk might be

one of the terns, or sea-swallows, forgetful of the fact that these

are not plunging birds, although exceedingly swift of flight.

Weighing, however, the opinions of the various Hebraists and

naturalists, we may safely determine that the word _shâlâk_ has been

rightly translated in the Authorized Version. The Hebrew Bible gives

the same reading, and does not affix the mark of doubt to the word,

though there are very few of the long list of animals in Lev. xi. and

Deut. xiv. which are not either distinguished by the mark of doubt,

or, like the Tinshemeth, are left untranslated.

The Cormorant belongs to the family of the pelicans, the relationship

between them being evident to the most unpractised eye; and the whole

structure of the bird shows its admirable adaptation for the life

which it leads.

Its long beak enables it to seize even a large fish, while the hook at

the end prevents the slippery prey from escaping. The long snake-like

neck gives the bird the power of darting its beak with great rapidity,

and at the same time allows it to seize prey immediately to the right

or left of its course. Its strong, closely-feathered wings enable it

to fly with tolerable speed, while at the same time they can be closed

so tightly to the body that they do not hinder the progress of the

bird through the water; while the tail serves equally when spread to

direct its course through the air, and when partially or entirely

closed to act as a rudder in the water. Lastly, its short powerful

legs, with their broadly-webbed feet, act as paddles, by which the

bird urges itself through the water with such wonderful speed that it

can overtake and secure the fishes even in their own element. Besides

these outward characteristics, we find that the bird is able to make a

very long stay under water, the lungs being adapted so as to contain a

wonderful amount of air.

The method of catching prey which is practised by the Cormorant is

familiar to us from the fact that the Cormorant has been trained to

play the same part in the water as the falcon in the air, and has been

taught to catch fish, and bring them ashore for its master. So adroit

are they, that if one of them should catch a fish which is too heavy

for it another bird will come to its assistance, and the two together

will bring the struggling prey to land. Trained birds of this

description have been employed in China from time immemorial, and in

later years they have been re-introduced into England, where they have

often exhibited their really wonderful powers.

In the days of Charles I. these birds were kept in training, and there

was attached to the Court a professed official, called the Kings

Master of the Cormorants. These birds were usually caught and trained

in Holland, and thence exported to England. The disturbed state of the

country during the civil wars, added to the sport-destroying character

of the Puritans, seems to have caused the sport to be abandoned in

this country, and it is only within the last few years that they have

been again employed. In order to prevent it from swallowing the fish

which it takes, each bird has a ring or ligature passed round its

neck.

The Cormorant is a most voracious bird, swallowing a considerable

weight of fish at a meal, and digesting them so rapidly that it is

soon ready for another supply. Although it is essentially a marine

bird, hunger often takes it inland, especially to places where are

lakes or large rivers. Mr. Waterton mentions, in his "Essays on

Natural History," that the Cormorants often visited the lake at Walton

Hall, and that they soon became so familiar and fearless, that after

catching and eating their prey they would sit on the terrace and preen

their feathers under the windows of the drawing-room.

The lake is by no means a large one, and it is probable that the birds

were attracted by the absolute security which was felt by every winged

creature within the domain. "His skill in diving," writes Mr.

Waterton, "is most admirable, and his success beyond belief. You may

know him at a distance, among a thousand water-fowl, by his upright

neck, by his body being apparently half immersed in the water, and by

his being perpetually in motion when not on land.

"While the ducks and teal and widgeons are stationary on the pool, the

cormorant is seen swimming to and fro, as if in quest of something.

First raising his body nearly perpendicular, down he plunges into the

deep, and, after staying there a considerable time, he is sure to

bring up a fish, which he invariably swallows head foremost. Sometimes

half an hour elapses before he can manage to accommodate a large eel

quietly in his stomach.

"You see him straining violently with repeated efforts to gulp it; and

when you fancy that the slippery mouthful is successfully disposed of,

all on a sudden the eel retrogrades upwards from its dismal sepulchre,

struggling violently to escape. The cormorant swallows it again, and

up again it comes, and shows its tail a foot or more out of its

destroyer's mouth. At length, worn out with ineffectual writhings and

slidings, the eel is gulped down into the cormorant's stomach for the

last time, there to meet its dreaded and inevitable fate."

Mr. Fortune gives a somewhat similar account of the feeding of tame

Cormorants in China. The birds preferred eels to all other food, and,

in spite of the difficulty in swallowing the slippery and active

creature, would not touch another fish as long as an eel was left. The

bird is so completely at home in the water that it does not need, like

the heron and other aquatic birds, to bring its prey ashore in order

to swallow it, but can eat fish in the water as well as catch them. It

always seizes the fish crosswise, and is therefore obliged to turn it

before it can swallow the prey with the head downwards. Sometimes it

contrives to turn the fish while still under water, but, if it should

fail in so doing, it brings its prey to the surface, and shifts it

about in its bill, making a series of little snatches at it until the

head is in the right direction. When it seizes a very large fish, the

bird shakes its prey just as a dog shakes a rat, and so disables it.

It is said to eat its own weight of fish in a single day.

Sometimes, when it has been very successful or exceptionally hungry,

it loads itself with food to such an extent that it becomes almost

insensible during the process of digestion, and, although naturally a

keen-eyed and wary bird, allows itself to be captured by hand.

The nest of the Cormorant is always upon a rocky ledge, and generally

on a spot which is inaccessible except by practised climbers furnished

with ropes, poles, hooks, and other appurtenances. Mr. Waterton

mentions that when he descended the Raincliff, a precipice some four

hundred feet in height, he saw numbers of the nests and eggs, but

could not get at them except by swinging himself boldly off the face

of the cliff, so as to be brought by the return swing into the

recesses chosen by the birds.

The nests are mostly placed in close proximity to each other, and are

made of sticks and seaweeds, and, as is usual with such nests, are

very inartificially constructed. The eggs are of a greenish white on

the outside, and green on the inside. When found in the nest, they are

covered with a sort of chalky crust, so that the true colour is not

perceptible until the crust is scraped off. Two to four eggs are

generally laid in, or rather on, each nest. As may be imagined from

the character of the birds' food, the odour of the nesting-place is

most horrible.

Sometimes, when rocks cannot be found, the Cormorant is obliged to

select other spots for its nest. It is mentioned in the "Proceedings

of the Zoological Society," that upon an island in the midst of a

large lake there were a number of Scotch fir-trees, upon the branches

of which were about eighty nests of the Cormorant.

The flesh of the Cormorant is very seldom eaten, as it has a fishy

flavour which is far from agreeable. To eat an old Cormorant is indeed

almost impossible, but the young birds may be rendered edible by

taking them as soon as killed, skinning them, removing the whole of

the interior, wrapping them in cloths, and burying them for some time

in the ground.

From the account of this bird, the reader will see that it may well be

the Shâlâk of the Old Testament. Owing to its size and its peculiar

habits, it is a very conspicuous bird, and therefore likely to be

selected by name by the ancient lawgiver. And although its flesh is

not very agreeable, it can be eaten; and, as has been shown, can be

rendered tolerably palatable by a very simple process. The flesh of

the Solan goose is deprived in a similar manner of its naturally rank

and fishy flavour.

THE PELICAN.

The Pelican of the wilderness--Attitudes of the bird--Its love

of solitude--Derivation of the Hebrew word--Fantastic

interpretation--Mode of feeding the young--Fables regarding the

Pelican--Breeding-places of the bird--The object of its wide

wings and large pouch--Colour of the Pelican.

On page 490 it has been mentioned that in two passages of Scripture,

the word which is translated in the Authorized Version as Cormorant,

ought to have been rendered as PELICAN. These, however, are not the

first passages in which we meet with the word _kaath_. The name occurs

in the two parallel passages of Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. among the list

of birds which are proscribed as food. Passing over them, we next come

to Ps. cii. 6. In this passage, the sacred writer is lamenting his

misery: "By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my

skin.

"I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the

desert."

In these sentences, we see that the Kaath was a bird of solitude that

was to be found in the "wilderness," _i.e._ far from the habitations

of man. This is one of the characteristics of the Pelican, which loves

not the neighbourhood of human beings, and is fond of resorting to

broad, uncultivated lands, where it will not be disturbed.

In them it makes its nest and hatches its young, and to them it

retires after feeding, in order to digest in quiet the ample meal

which it has made. Mr. Tristram well suggests that the metaphor of the

Psalmist may allude to the habit common to the Pelican and its kin, of

sitting motionless for hours after it has gorged itself with food, its

head sunk on its shoulders, and its bill resting on its breast.

This is but one of the singular, and often grotesque, attitudes in

which the Pelican is in the habit of indulging.

[Illustration: THE PELICAN.

"_I am like a pelican in the wilderness._"--PS. cii. 6.]

There are before me a number of sketches made of the Pelicans at the

Zoological Gardens, and in no two cases does one attitude in the least

resemble another. In one sketch the bird is sitting in the attitude

which has just been described. In another it is walking, or rather

staggering, along, with its head on one side, and its beak so closed

that hardly a vestige of its enormous pouch can be seen. Another

sketch shows the same bird as it appeared when angry with a companion,

and scolding its foe in impotent rage; while another shows it basking

in the sun, with its magnificent wings spread and shaking in the warm

beams, and its pouch hanging in folds from its chin.

One of the most curious of these sketches shows the bird squatting on

the ground, with its head drawn back as far as possible, and sunk so

far among the feathers of the back and shoulders that only a portion

of the head itself can be seen, while the long beak is hidden, except

an inch or two of the end. In this attitude it might easily be

mistaken at a little distance for an oval white stone.

The derivation of the Hebrew word _kaath_ is a very curious one. It is

taken from a verb signifying "to vomit," and this derivation has been

explained in different ways.

The early writers, who were comparatively ignorant of natural history,

thought that the Pelican lived chiefly on molluscs, and that, after

digesting the animals, it rejected their shells, just as the owl and

the hawk reject the bones, fur, and feathers of their prey. They

thought that the Pelican was a bird of a hot temperament, and that the

molluscs were quickly digested by the heat of the stomach: "conchas

enim, calore ventris coctas, rursus evomit, ut testis rejectis,

esculenta seligat."

At the present day, however, knowing as we do the habits of the

Pelican, we find that, although the reasons just given are faulty, and

that the Pelican lives essentially on fish, and not on molluscs, the

derivation of the word is really a good one, and that those who gave

the bird the name of Kaath, or the vomiter, were well acquainted with

its habits.

The bird certainly does eat molluscs, but the principal part of its

diet is composed of fish, which it catches dexterously by a sort of

sidelong snatch of its enormous bill. The skin under the lower part of

the beak is so modified that it can form, when distended, an enormous

pouch, capable of holding a great quantity of fish, though, as long as

it is not wanted, the pouch is so contracted into longitudinal folds

as to be scarcely perceptible. When it has filled the pouch, it

usually retires from the water, and flies to a retired spot, often

many miles inland, where it can sit and digest at its ease the

enormous meal which it has made.

As it often chooses its breeding-places in similar spots, far from the

water, it has to carry the food with which it nourishes its young for

many miles. For this purpose it is furnished, not only with the pouch

which has been just mentioned, but with long, wide, and very powerful

wings, often measuring from twelve to thirteen feet from tip to tip.

No one, on looking at a Pelican as it waddles about or sits at rest,

would imagine the gigantic dimensions of the wings, which seem, as the

bird spreads them, to have almost as unlimited a power of expansion as

the pouch.

In these two points the true Pelicans present a strong contrast to the

cormorants, though birds closely allied. The cormorant has its home

close by the sea, and therefore needs not to carry its food for any

distance. Consequently, it needs no pouch, and has none. Neither does

it require the great expanse of wing which is needful for the Pelican,

that has to carry such a weight of fish through the air. Accordingly,

the wings, though strong enough to enable the bird to carry for a

short distance a single fish of somewhat large size, are comparatively

short and closely feathered, and the flight of the cormorant possesses

neither the grace nor the power which distinguishes that of the

Pelican.

When the Pelican feeds its young, it does so by pressing its beak

against its breast, so as to force out of it the enclosed fish. Now

the tip of the beak is armed, like that of the cormorant, with a

sharply-curved hook, only, in the case of the Pelican, the hook is of

a bright scarlet colour, looking, when the bird presses the beak

against the white feathers of the breast, like a large drop of blood.

Hence arose the curious legend respecting the Pelican, which

represented it as feeding its young with its own blood, and tearing

open its breast with its hooked bill. We find that this legend is

exemplified by the oft-recurring symbol of the "Pelican feeding its

young" in ecclesiastical art, as an emblem of Divine love.

This is one of the many instances in which the inventive, poetical,

inaccurate Oriental mind has seized some peculiarity of form, and

based upon it a whole series of fabulous legends. As long as they

restricted themselves to the appearance and habits of the animals with

which they were familiarly acquainted, the old writers were curiously

full, exact, and precise in their details. But as soon as they came to

any creature of whose mode of life they were entirely or partially

ignorant, they allowed their inventive faculties full scope, and put

forward as zoological facts statements which were the mere creation of

their own fancy. We have already seen several examples of this

propensity, and shall find more as we proceed with the zoology of the

Scriptures.

The fabulous legends of the Pelican are too numerous to be even

mentioned, but there is one which deserves notice, because it is made

the basis of an old Persian fable.

The writer of the legend evidently had some partial knowledge of the

bird. He knew that it had a large pouch which could hold fish and

water; that it had large and powerful wings; and that it was in the

habit of flying far inland, either for the purpose of digesting its

food or nourishing its young. Knowing that the Pelican is in the habit

of choosing solitary spots in which it may bring up its young in

safety, but not knowing the precise mode of its nesting, the writer in

question has trusted to his imagination, and put forward his theories

as facts.

Knowing that the bird dwells in "the wilderness," he has assumed that

the wilderness in question is a sandy, arid desert, far from water,

and consequently from vegetation. Such being the case, the nurture of

the Pelican's young is evidently a difficult question. Being aquatic

birds, the young must needs require water for drink and bathing, as

well as fish for food; and, though a supply of both these necessaries

could be brought in the ample pouches of the parents, they would be

wasted unless some mode of storing were employed.

Accordingly, the parent birds were said to make their nest in a hollow

tree, and to line it with clay, or to build it altogether of clay, so

as to leave a deep basin. This basin the parent birds were said to use

as a sort of store-pond, bringing home supplies of fish and water in

their pouches, and pouring them into the pond. The wild beasts who

lived in the desert were said to be acquainted with these nests, and

to resort to them daily in order to quench their thirst, repaying

their entertainers by protecting their homes.

In real fact, the Pelican mostly breeds near water, and is fond of

selecting little rocky islands where it cannot be approached without

danger. The nest is made on the ground, and is formed in a most

inartificial manner of reeds and grass, the general mass of the nest

being made of the reeds, and the lining being formed of grass. The

eggs are white, of nearly the same shape at both ends, and are from

two to five in number. On an average, however, each nest will contain

about two eggs.

The parent birds are very energetic in defence of their eggs or young,

and, according to Le Vaillant, when approached they are "like furious

harpies let loose against us, and their cries rendered us almost deaf.

They often flew so near us that they flapped their wings in our faces,

and, though we fired our pieces repeatedly, we were not able to

frighten them." When the well-known naturalist Sonnerat tried to drive

a female Pelican from her nest, she appeared not to be frightened, but

angry. She would not move from her nest, and when he tried to push her

off, she struck at him with her long bill and uttered cries of rage.

In order to aid the bird in carrying the heavy weights with which it

loads itself, the whole skeleton is permeated with air, and is

exceedingly light. Beside this, the whole cellular system of the bird

is honeycombed with air-cells, so that the bulk of the bird can be

greatly increased, while its weight remains practically unaltered, and

the Pelican becomes a sort of living balloon.

The habit of conveying its food inland before eating it is so

characteristic of the Pelican that other birds take advantage of it.

In some countries there is a large hawk which robs the Pelican, just

as the bald-headed eagle of America robs the osprey. Knowing

instinctively that when a Pelican is flying inland slowly and heavily

and with a distended pouch it is carrying a supply of food to its

home, the hawk dashes at it, and frightens it so that the poor bird

opens its beak, and gives up to the assailant the fish which it was

bearing homewards.

It is evident that the wings which are needed for supporting such

weights, and which, as we have seen, exceed twelve feet in length from

tip to tip, would be useless in the water, and would hinder rather

than aid the bird if it attempted to dive as the close-winged

cormorant does. Accordingly, we find that the Pelican is not a diver,

and, instead of chasing its finny prey under water, after the manner

of the cormorant, it contents itself with scooping up in its beak the

fishes which come to the surface of the water. The very buoyancy of

its body would prevent it from diving as does the cormorant, and,

although it often plunges into the water so fairly as to be for a

moment submerged, it almost immediately rises, and pursues its course

on the surface of the water, and not beneath it. Like the cormorant,

the Pelican can perch on trees, though it does not select such spots

for its roosting-places, and prefers rocks to branches. In one case,

however, when some young Pelicans had been captured and tied to a

stake, their mother used to bring them food during the day, and at

night was accustomed to roost in the branches of a tree above them.

One of the two passages to which allusion has already been made in

which the word _kaath_ has been wrongly translated, occurs in Isa.

xxxiv. 10, 11: "From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none

shall pass through it for ever and ever.

"But the cormorant [Pelican in margin] and the bittern shall possess

it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch

out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness."

These words form part of a prophecy concerning Idumæa or Edom, in

which the desolation that is to come upon the land is painted in the

most vivid colours. The streams are to be turned into pitch, and the

dust into brimstone; thorns are to come up in the palaces, and nettles

and brambles in the fortresses, and the land is to be washed with

blood. And so great is to be the desolation of the land, that even the

Pelican, which keeps itself far from the habitations of men, is to

possess it.

A similar figure is employed by the prophet Zephaniah, when writing of

the utter destruction of Nineveh, that "rejoicing city, that dwelt

carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is no more beside

me." In chap. ii. ver. 13, 14, the prophet writes as follows: "He will

stretch out His hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will

make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

"And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the

nations; both the cormorant [Pelican] and bittern shall lodge in the

upper lintels of it, their voices shall sing in the windows;

desolation shall be in the threshold: for He shall overcome the cedar

work."

In both these passages the Jewish Bible renders the word _kaath_ as

Pelican. For a further explanation of them the reader is referred to

the article on the hedgehog.

It will be now seen that, accepting the Kaath to be the Pelican, the

imagery of the scriptural writers is as accurate as it is forcible.

Though under some circumstances a thoroughly social bird, it is yet

fond of retiring to the most solitary spots in order to consume at

peace the prey that it has captured; and, as it sits motionless and

alone for hours, more like a white stone than, a bird, it may well be

accepted as a type of solitude and desolation.

The colour of the common Pelican is white, with a very slight pinky

tinge, which is most conspicuous in the breeding season. The feathers

of the crest are yellow, and the quill feathers of the wings are jetty

black, contrasting well with the white plumage of the body. The pouch

is yellow, and the upper part of the beak bluish grey, with a red line

running across the middle, and a bright red hook at the tip. This

plumage belongs only to the adult bird, that of the young being ashen

grey, and four or five years are required before the bird puts on its

full beauty. There is no difference in the appearance of the sexes.

The illustration on page 496 represents a fine old male Crested

Pelican (_Pelecanus cristatus_). The general colour is greyish white,

with a slight yellowish tint on the breast. The pouch is bright

orange, and the crest is formed of curling feathers.

REPTILES.

THE TORTOISE.

Reptiles in general--Looseness of the term "creeping

things"--The Tzab of the Scriptures, translated as

Tortoise--Flesh and eggs of the Tortoise--Its slow

movements--Hibernation dependent on temperature--The

"Water-Tortoises--Their food and voracity--Their eggs--Their

odour terrifying the horses--The Dhubb lizard and its

legends--Its armed tail, and the use made of it--Its food, and

localities which it prefers.

We now come to a different class of animated beings. We have already

found that the sacred writers were very loose in their nomenclature of

the mammalia and birds, and we may therefore expect to find that even

greater uncertainty prevails with regard to the REPTILES. It is

evident that the sacred writers classed together the "creeping things"

of the earth, without troubling themselves about zoological accuracy,

and that by them a lizard, a centipede, and a caterpillar would have

been alike classed as belonging to the "creeping things." For example,

we learn in Deut. xiv. 19 that "every creeping thing that flieth" is

unclean. On referring to Levit. xi. 21, we find that the same

prohibition is repeated, but with an addition that shows that the

sacred writer is treating of insects under the head of "creeping

things." "Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that

goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal

upon the earth;

"Even these of them may ye eat; the locust after his kind, and the

bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the

grasshopper after his kind.

"But all other flying creeping things which have four feet shall be an

abomination unto you."

As to the particular species signified by these different insects, the

reader is referred to that portion of the work which treats of

entomology; and it is sufficient to observe that in this passage the

term "creeping things" is employed to designate insects.

If we pass to verse 42 of the same chapter, we find that among the

"creeping things" the centipedes, millepedes, and very probably the

caterpillars, are ranked. "Whatsoever hath more feet among all

creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat, for

they are an abomination.

"Ye shall not make yourselves [or, your souls] abominable with any

creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean

with them, that ye should be defiled thereby."

Again, in Ps. civ. 24, 25, different orders of animals are classed

under the name of creeping things: "0 Lord, how manifold are Thy

works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy

riches.

"So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping

innumerable, both small and great beasts." In this passage it is

probable that the sacred writer classed together all the inhabitants

of the sea that creep and that do not swim with fins, and that under

this term are first comprised the marine turtles, and perhaps snakes.

Indeed, from verses 10 and 11 of Levit. xi. it is almost certain that

marine and aquatic reptiles are signified: "All that have not fins and

scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters,

and of every living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an

abomination unto you:

"They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their

flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination."

This prohibition also includes the whole of the molluscs, and the

marine worms, or annelids.

We will take these creatures in their order, and begin with those

which are classed as Reptiles by the zoologists of the present day,

and which are distinguished by having a bony skeleton, breathing by

means of lungs and not of gills, having a heart with two auricles and

one ventricle, and the skin being covered with horny plates or scales.

The first in order are those which are covered with plates, and which

are known as the Chelarians, including the Tortoises and Turtles.

In Levit. xi. 29, there occurs among the list of unclean beasts a word

which is translated in the Authorized Version as "tortoise." The word

is _Tzab_, and is rendered in the Hebrew Bible as "lizard," but with

the mark of doubt affixed to it. As the correct translation of the

word is very dubious, we shall examine it in both these senses.

[Illustration: THE DHUBB AND TORTOISE.

"_These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that

creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise

after his kind_."--LEVIT. xi. 29.]

The common Tortoise (_Testudo Græca_) is very common in Palestine, and

is so plentiful that it would certainly have been used by the

Israelites as food, had it not been prohibited by law. At the present

day it is cooked and eaten by the inhabitants of the country who are

not Jews, and its eggs are in as great request as those of the fowl.

These eggs are hard, nearly spherical, thick-shelled, and covered with

minute punctures, giving them a roughness like that of a file. In

captivity the Tortoise is very careless about the mode in which they

are deposited, and I have seen a large yard almost covered with eggs

laid by Tortoises and abandoned. The white or albumen of the egg is so

stiff and gelatinous that to empty one of them without breaking the

shell is a difficult task, and the yolk is very dark, and covered with

minute spots of black. When fresh the eggs are as good as those of the

fowl, and many persons even think them better; the only drawback being

that their small size and thick shell cause considerable trouble in

eating them.

The flesh of the Tortoise is eaten, not only by human beings, but by

birds, such as the lämmergeier. In order to get at the flesh of the

Tortoise, they carry it high in the air and drop it on the ground so

as to break the shell to pieces, should the reptile fall on a stone or

rock. If, as is not often the case in such a rocky land as that of

Palestine, it should fall on a soft spot, the bird picks it up, soars

aloft, and drops it again.

The Tortoises have no teeth, but yet are able to crop the herbage with

perfect ease. In lieu of teeth the edges of the jaws are sharp-edged

and very hard, so that they cut anything that comes between them like

a pair of shears. Leaves that are pulpy and crisp are bitten through

at once, but those that are thin, tough, and fibrous are rather torn

than bitten, the Tortoise placing its feet upon them, and dragging

them to pieces with its jaws. The carnivorous Tortoises have a similar

habit, as we shall presently see.

This is the species from whose deliberate and slow movements the

familiar metaphor of "slow as a Tortoise" was derived, and it is this

species which is the hero of the popular fable of the "Hare and the

Tortoise." Many of the reptiles are very slow in some things and

astonishingly quick in others. Some of the lizards, for example, will

at one time remain motionless for many hours together, or creep about

with a slow and snail-like progress, while at others they dart from

spot to spot with such rapidity that the eye can scarcely follow their

movements. This however is not the case with the Tortoise, which is

always slow, and, but for the defensive armour in which it is encased,

would long ago have been extirpated.

During the whole of the summer months it may be seen crawling

deliberately among the herbage, eating in the same deliberate style

which characterises all its movements, and occasionally resting in the

same spot for many hours together, apparently enjoying the warm beams

of the sunshine.

As winter approaches, it slowly scrapes a deep hole in the ground, and

buries itself until the following spring awakes it once more to active

life. The depth of its burrow depends on the severity of the winter,

for, as the cold increases, the Tortoise sinks itself more deeply into

the earth.

MENTION has been made of a species of Tortoise that inhabits the

water. This is the CASPIAN EMYS (_Emys caspica_), a small species,

measuring about six inches in length. It belongs to the large family

of the Terrapins, several of which are so well known in America, and

has a long, retractile neck, very sharp jaws, and webbed feet, and a

well-developed tail.

The body is flattish, and the colour is olive, with lines of yellow

edged with black, and the head is marked with longitudinal streaks of

bright yellow. After the death of the creature these yellow streaks

fade away gradually, and at last become nearly black. The skin of the

head is thin, but very hard. In general appearance it is not unlike

the chicken Tortoise of America, a species which is often brought to

England and kept in captivity, on account of its hardy nature and the

little trouble which is needed for keeping it in health.

I have kept specimens of the Caspian Emys for some time, and found

them to be more interesting animals than they at first promised to be.

They were active, swimming with considerable speed, and snatching

quickly at anything which they fancied might be food.

They were exceedingly voracious, consuming daily a quantity of meat

apparently disproportioned to their size, and eating it in a manner

that strongly reminded me of the mole when engaged on a piece of meat

or the body of a bird or mouse. The Tortoise would plant its fore-paws

firmly at each side of the meat, seize a mouthful in its jaws, and, by

retracting its head violently, would tear away the piece which it had

grasped.

They are most destructive among fish, and are apt to rise quietly

underneath a fish as it basks near the surface of the water, grasp it

beneath with its sharp-edged jaws, and tear away the piece, leaving

the fish to die. It is rather remarkable that the Lepidosiren, or

mud-fish of the Gambia, destroys fish in a precisely similar manner,

though, as its jaws are much sharper than those of the Emys, it does

not need the aid of fore-paws in biting out its mouthful of flesh.

Like the land Tortoise, it is one of the hibernators, and during the

winter months buries itself deeply in the earth, choosing for this

purpose the soft, muddy bed or bank of the pond in which it lives. Its

eggs are white, and hard-shelled, but are more oval than those of the

land Tortoise, and both ends are nearly alike. In fact, its egg might

well be mistaken for that of a small pigeon. The shell has a

porcelain-like look, and is very liable to crack, so that the

resemblance is increased.

There is one drawback to these reptiles when kept as pets. They give

out a very unpleasant odour, which is disagreeable to human nostrils,

but is absolutely terrifying to many animals. The monkey tribe have

the strongest objection to these aquatic Tortoises. I once held one of

them towards a very tame chimpanzee, much to his discomfiture. He

muttered and remonstrated, and retreated as far as he could, pushing

out his lips in a funnel-like form, and showing his repugnance to the

reptile in a manner that could not be mistaken.

Horses seem to be driven almost frantic with terror, not only by the

sight, but by the odour of these Tortoises. In Southern Africa there

are Tortoises closely allied to the Caspian Emys, and having the same

power of frightening horses. In "Land and Water" for February 22d,

1869, there is an account of an adventure with one of those Tortoises,

called in the catalogue of the British Museum the Reddish Pelamedusa.

It is of an olive colour, and, when adult, there is a slight

depression on either side of the vertebral line.

"Some very awkward accidents have occurred to parties from the terror

caused by the fresh-water turtle (_Pelamedusa subrufa_). Carts have

been smashed to fragments, riders thrown, and the utmost confusion

caused by them. It is their smell, and it is certainly very

disagreeable.

"My first acquaintance with the fact was in this wise. I was out

shooting with two young ladies who had volunteered as markers; and, as

you know, all our shooting is done from horseback. I had jumped off

for a shot at some francolins near a knill, or water-hole, and, after

picking up my birds, was coming round the knill to windward of the

horses. In my path scrambled a turtle. I called out to my young

friends, and told them of my find, on which one of them, in a hasty

voice, said, 'Oh, please, Mr. L., don't touch it; you will frighten

the horses!'

"Of course I laughed at the idea, and picked up the reptile, which

instantly emitted its pungent odour--its means of defence. Though a

long way off, the moment the horses caught the scent, away they flew,

showing terror in every action. The girls, luckily splendid riders,

tugged in vain at the reins; away they went over the Veldt, leaving me

in mortal fear that the yawning 'aard-vark' holes (_Orycteropus

capensis_) would break their necks. My own horse, which I had hitched

to a bush, tore away his bridle, and with the ends streaming in the

wind and the stirrups clashing about him, sped off home at full

gallop, and was only recovered after a severe chase by my gallant

young Amazons, who, after a race of some miles, succeeded in checking

their affrighted steeds and in securing my runaway. But for some hours

after, if I ventured to windward, there were wild-looking eyes and

cocked ears--the smell of the reptile clung to me."

Should any of my readers keep any of those water Tortoises, they will

do well to supply them plentifully with food, to give them an elevated

rocky perch on which they can scramble, and on which they will sit for

hours so motionless that at a little distance they can scarcely be

distinguished from the stone on which they rest. They should also be

weighed at regular intervals, as decrease of weight is a sure sign

that something is wrong, and, as a general rule, is an almost certain

precursor of death.

This little reptile is not without its legends. According to the old

writers on natural history, it is of exceeding use to vine-growers in

the season when there is excess of rain or hail. Whenever the owner of

a vineyard sees a black cloud approaching, all he has to do is, to

take one of these Tortoises, lay it on its back, and carry it round

the vineyard. He must then go into the middle of the ground and lay

the reptile on the earth, still on its back; and the effect of this

proceeding would be that the cloud would pass aside from a place so

well protected.

"But," proceeds the narrator, not wishing to be responsible for the

statement, "such diabolical and foolish observations were not so muche

to be remembered in this place, were it not for their sillinesse, that

by knowing them men might learn the weaknesse of human wisdom when it

erreth from the fountain of all science and true knowledge (which is

Divinity), and the most approved assertions of nature. And so I will

say no more in this place of the sweet-water tortoise."

THE DHUBB.

We now come to the second animal, which may probably be the Tzab of

the Old Testament.

This creature is one of the lizards, and is a very odd-looking

creature. It is certainly not so attractive in appearance that the

Jews might be supposed to desire it as food; but it often happens

that, as is the case with the turtle and iguana, from the most

ungainly, in the latter animal even repulsive, forms are produced the

most delicate meats.

The DHUBB, or EGYPTIAN MASTIGURE, as the lizard is indifferently

called, grows to a considerable size, measuring when adult three feet

in length. Its colour is green, variegated with brown, and is slightly

changeable, though not to the extent that distinguishes the chameleon.

The chief peculiarity of this lizard consists in its tail, which is

covered with a series of whorls or circles of long, sharply-pointed,

hard-edged scales. The very appearance of this tail suggests its use

as a weapon of defence, and it is said that even the dreaded cerastes

is conquered by it, when the lizard and the snake happen to find

themselves occupants of the same hole.

The ancients had a very amusing notion respecting the use of the spiny

tail possessed by the Dhubb and its kin. They had an idea that,

comparatively small though it was, it fed upon cattle, and that it was

able to take them from the herd and drive them to its home. For this

purpose, when it had selected an ox, it jumped on its back, and by the

pricking of its sharp claws drove the animal to gallop in hope of

ridding himself of his tormentor. In order to guide him in the

direction of its home, it made use of its tail, lashing the ox "to

make him go with his rider to the place of his most fit execution,

free from all rescue of his herdsman, or pastor, or the annoyance of

passengers, where, in most cruel and savage manner, he teareth the

limbs and parts one from another till he be devoured."

This very absurd account is headed by an illustration, which, though

bad in drawing and rude in execution, is yet so bold and truthful that

there is no doubt that it was sketched from the living animal.

As it haunts sandy downs, rocky spots, and similar localities, it is

well adapted for the Holy Land, which is the home of a vast number of

reptiles, especially of those belonging to the lizards. In the summer

time they have the full enjoyment of the hot sunbeams, in which they

delight, and which seem to rouse these cold-blooded creatures to

action, while they deprive the higher animals of all spirit and

energy. In the winter time these very spots afford localities wherein

the lizards can hibernate until the following spring, and in such a

case they furnish the reptiles with secure hiding-places.

Although the Dhubb does not destroy and tear to pieces oxen and other

cattle, it is yet a rather bloodthirsty reptile, and will kill and

devour birds as large as the domestic fowl. Usually, however, its food

consists of beetles and other insects, which it takes deliberately.

Whether or not the Dhubb be the same reptile as the Tzab of the Old

Testament, the resemblance between the Hebrew and Arabic words is very

remarkable.

THE LEVIATHAN OR CROCODILE.

Signification of the word _Leviathan_--Description in the Book

of Job--Structure and general habits of the Crocodile--The

throat-valve and its use--Position of the nostrils--Worship of

the Crocodile--The reptile known in the Holy Land--Two legends

respecting its presence there--Mode of taking prey--Cunning of

the Crocodile--The baboons and the Crocodile--Speed of the

reptile--Eggs and young of the Crocodile, and their

enemies--Curious story of the ichneumon and ibis--Modes of

capturing the Crocodile--Analysis of Job's description--The

Crocodile also signified by the word _Tannin_. Aaron's rod

changed into a Tannin--Various passages in which the word

occurs--Use of the word by the prophet Jeremiah.

The word _Leviathan_ is used in a rather loose manner in the Old

Testament, in some places representing a mammalian of the sea, and in

others signifying a reptile inhabiting the rivers. As in the most

important of these passages the Crocodile is evidently signified, we

will accept that rendering, and consider the Crocodile as being the

Leviathan of Scripture. The Jewish Bible accepts the word Crocodile,

and does not add the mark of doubt.

The fullest account of the Leviathan occurs in Job xli., the whole of

which chapter is given to the description of the terrible reptile. As

the translation of the Jewish Bible differs in some points from that

of the Authorized Version, I shall here give the former, so that the

reader may be able to compare them with each other.

"Canst thou draw out a crocodile with a hook, or his tongue with a

cord which thou lettest down?

"Canst thou put a reed into his nose, or bore his jaw through with a

thorn?

"Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words

unto thee?

"Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him as a servant

for ever?

"Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, or wilt thou bind him for thy

maidens?

"Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among

the merchants?

"Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with

fish-spears?

"Lay thine hand upon him, thou wilt no more remember the battle.

"Behold, the hope of him is in vain; shall not one be cast down at the

sight of him?

"None is so fierce that dare stir him up; who then is able to stand

before Me?

"Who hath forestalled Me that I should repay him? whatsoever is under

the whole heaven is Mine.

"I will not be silent of his parts, nor of the matter of his power,

nor of his comely proportion.

"Who can uncover the face of his garment? who would enter the double

row in his jaw?

"Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round

about.

"The strength of his shields are his pride, shut up together as with a

close seal.