Among the many foreign objects which were imported by Solomon into

Palestine, we find that the Peacock is specially mentioned. (See a

passage which has already been mentioned in connexion with ivory and

apes.) The sacred historian, after mentioning the ivory throne, the

golden shields and targets, that all the vessels in Solomon's house

were of gold, and that silver was so common as to be of no account,

proceeds to give the reason for this profuse magnificence. "For the

king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in

three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver,

ivory, and apes, and peacocks" (1 Kings x. 22).

That this magnificent bird should have been one of those creatures

that were imported by Solomon is almost certain. It would be

imported for the same reason as the apes; namely, for the purpose

of adding to the glories of Solomon's house, and no bird could have

been selected which would have a more magnificent effect than the

Peacock. Moreover, although unknown in Palestine, it is extremely

plentiful in India and Ceylon, inhabiting the jungle by thousands,

and, by a curious coincidence, being invariably most plentiful in

those spots which are most frequented by tigers. In many parts

of the country, great numbers of Peacocks frequent the temples,

and live amicably with the sacred monkeys, passing their lives in

absolute security, protected by the sanctity of the place.

Their numbers, therefore, would render them easily accessible to

Solomon's envoys, who would purchase them at a cheap rate from the

native dealers, while their surpassing beauty would render them

sure of a sale on their arrival in Jerusalem. Indeed, their beauty

made so great an impression that they are separately mentioned by

the sacred chronicler, the Peacock and the ape being the only two

animals that are thought worthy of enumeration.

The Peacock may safely be termed one of the most beautiful of the

feathered tribe, and may even lay a well-founded claim to the

chief rank among birds, in splendour of plumage and effulgence of

colouring.

We are so familiar with the Peacock that we think little of its

real splendour; but if one of these birds was brought to this

country for the first time, it would create a greater sensation than

many animals which are now viewed in menageries with the greatest

curiosity and interest.

The train of the male Peacock is the most remarkable feature of this

beautiful bird; the feathers composing it are very long, and are

coloured with green, purple, bronze, gold, and blue in such a manner

as to form distinct "eyes."

On the head is a tuft of upright feathers, blackish upon their

shafts, and rich golden green, shot with blue, on their expanded

tips. The top of the head, the throat, and neck are the most

refulgent blue, changing in different lights to gold and green. The

wings are darker than the rest of the plumage, the abdomen blackish,

and the feathers of the thighs are fawn.

[Illustration: THE PEACOCK.]

The female is much smaller than her mate, and not nearly so

beautiful, the train being almost wanting, and the colour

ashy-brown, with the exception of the throat and neck, which are

green.

It seems that after Solomon's death the breed of Peafowl was not

kept up, owing in all probability to the troubles which beset the

throne after that magnificent monarch died.

[Illustration: feathers]

[Illustration: partridge]

THE PARTRIDGE.

The word _Kore_ and its signification--The Partridge upon

the mountains--David's simile--The Desert Partridge and

its habits--Hunting the Partridge with sticks--Eggs of the

Partridge--Egg-hunting in Palestine--The various species of

Partridge.

There is a bird mentioned in the Old Testament, which, although its

name is only given twice, is a very interesting bird to all students

of the Scriptures, both passages giving an insight into the manners

and customs of the scarcely changing East. This is the bird called

in the Hebrew Kore, a word which has been generally accepted as

signifying some kind of Partridge. There is no doubt that, like most

other Hebrew names of animated beings, the word is a collective one,

signifying a considerable number of species.

The first passage occurs in 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. When David was being

pursued by Saul, and had been forced to escape from the city and

hide himself in the rocky valleys, he compared himself to the

Partridge, which frequented exactly the same places: "The king of

Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge

upon the mountains."

The appositeness of this simile is perfect. The bird to which David

alluded was in all probability the Desert Partridge (_Ammoperdix

Heyii_), a species which especially haunts rocky and desert places,

and even at the present day is exceedingly plentiful about the Cave

of Adullam. The males, when they think themselves unobserved, are

fond of challenging, or calling to each other in a loud ringing

note, a peculiarity that has earned for the bird the Hebrew name of

Kore, or "the caller."

It is a very active bird, not taking to flight if it can escape by

means of its legs, and, when pursued or disturbed, running with

great swiftness to some rocky cleft in which it may hide itself,

taking care to interpose, as it runs, stones or other obstacles

between itself and the object of its alarm. Thus, then, it will be

seen how close was the parallel between this bird and David, who was

forced, like the Partridge, to seek for refuge in the rocky caves.

But the parallel becomes even closer when we come to examine the

full meaning of the passage. The Partridge is at the present day

hunted on the mountains exactly as was the case in the time of

David. The usual hunters are boys, who provide themselves with

a supply of stout sticks about eighteen inches in length, and,

armed with these, they chase the birds, hurling the sticks one

after the other along the ground, so as to strike the Partridge as

it runs. Generally, several hunters chase the same bird, some of

them throwing the sticks along the ground, while others hurl them

just above the bird, so that if it should take to flight, it may

be struck as it rises into the air. By pertinaciously chasing an

individual bird, the hunters tire it, and contrive to come so close

that they are certain to strike it.

[Illustration: THE GREEK PARTRIDGE.]

The reader will now see how perfect is the image. Driven from

the city, David was forced to wander, together with the Desert

Partridge, upon the hill-sides, and, like that bird, his final

refuge is the rock. Then came the hunters and pursued him, driving

him from place to place, as the boys hunt the Partridge, until he

was weary of his life, and exclaimed in his despair, "I shall now

perish one day by the hand of Saul."

The Partridges of Palestine are, like those of our own land,

exceedingly prolific birds, laying a wonderful number of eggs, more

than twenty being sometimes found in a single nest. These eggs are

used for food, and the consumption of them is very great, so that

many a Partridge has been deprived of her expected family: she has

sat upon eggs, and hatched them not.

Just as hunting the Partridge is an acknowledged sport among the

inhabitants of the uncultivated parts of Palestine, so is searching

for the eggs of the bird a regular business at the proper time of

year.

[Illustration: PARTRIDGES AND THEIR YOUNG.]

Of these birds several species inhabit Palestine. There is, for

example, the Desert Partridge, which has already been mentioned. It

is beautifully, though not brilliantly coloured, and may be known by

the white spot behind the eye, the purple and chestnut streaks on

the sides, and the orange bill and legs. These, however, soon lose

their colour after death.

[Illustration: EASTERN QUAIL.]

THE QUAIL.

Migration of the Quail--Modes of catching the Quail in the

East--The Quail-hunters of Northern Africa--Quarrelsome nature

of the bird--Quail-fighting in the East--How the Quails were

brought to the Israelites.

In one or two parts of the Old Testament is found a word which has

been translated in the Authorized Version of the Bible as QUAIL.

The word is _selâv_, and in every case where it is mentioned it is

used with reference to the same occurrence; namely, the providing

of flesh-meat in the wilderness, where the people could find no

food. As the passages remarkably bear upon each other, it will be

advisable to quote them in the order in which they come.

The first mention of the Selâv occurs in Exod. xvi. Only a few days

after the Israelites had passed the Red Sea, they began to complain

of the desert land into which Moses had led them, and openly said

that they wished they had never left the land of their slavery,

where they had plenty to eat. According to His custom, pitying their

narrow-minded and short-sighted folly, the natural result of the

long servitude to which they had been subject, the Lord promised to

send both bread and flesh-meat.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

"I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto

them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye

shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord

your God.

[Illustration: THE QUAIL.]

"And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered

the camp" (ver. 11-13).

The next passage records a similar circumstance, which occurred

about a year afterwards, when the Israelites were tired of eating

nothing but the manna, and again wished themselves back in Egypt.

"And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from

the sea, and let them fall by the camp as it were a day's journey

on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side,

round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face

of the earth.

"And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all

the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least

gathered ten homers; and they spread them all abroad for themselves

round about the camp" (Numb. xi. 31, 32).

The last passage in which Quails are mentioned occurs in the Psalms.

In Ps. cv. are enumerated the various wonders done on behalf of the

Israelites, and among them is specially mentioned this gift of the

Quails and manna. "The people asked, and He brought quails, and

satisfied them with the bread of heaven" (ver. 40).

"He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of

heaven,

"And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of

the corn of heaven.

"Man did eat angels' food: He sent them meat to the full.

"He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven; and by His power He

brought in the south wind.

"He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as

the sand of the sea" (Ps. lxxviii. 23-27).

If the ordinary interpretation of _selâv_ by "Quail" be accepted,

the description is exactly correct. The Quails fly in vast flocks,

and, being weak-winged birds, never fly against the direction of the

wind. They will wait for days until the wind blows in the required

direction, and will then take wing in countless multitudes; so that

in an hour or two a spot on which not a Quail could be seen is

covered with them.

On account of their short wings, they never rise to any great

height, even when crossing the sea, while on land they fly at a very

low elevation, merely skimming over the ground, barely a yard or

"two cubits high upon the face of the earth."

Moreover, the flesh of the Quail is peculiarly excellent, and would

be a great temptation to men who had passed so long a time without

eating animal food. Another corroboration of the identity of the

Quail and the Selâv is to be found in the mode in which the flesh is

prepared at the present day. As soon as the birds have arrived, they

are captured in vast multitudes, on account of their weariness.

Many are consumed at once, but great numbers are preserved for

future use by being split and laid out to dry in the sun, precisely

as the Israelites are said to have spread out the Selavim "all

abroad for themselves round about the camp."

* * * * *

Accepting, therefore, the Selâv and Quail to be identical, we may

proceed to the description of the bird.

It is small, plump, and round-bodied, with the head set closely on

the shoulders. Owing to this peculiarity of form, it has its Arab

name, which signifies plumpness or fatness. The wings are pressed

closely to the body, and the tail is pointed, very short, and

directed downwards, so that it almost appears to be absent, and the

bird seems to be even more plump than really is the case.

Several modes of capturing these birds are still practised in the

East, and were probably employed, not only on the two occasions

mentioned in Exodus and Numbers, but on many others of which the

Scriptural narrative takes no notice. One very simple plan is, for

the hunters to select a spot on which the birds are assembled,

and to ride or walk round them in a large circle, or rather in a

constantly diminishing spiral. The birds are by this process driven

closer and closer together, until at the last they are packed in

such masses that a net can be thrown over them, and a great number

captured in it.

Sometimes a party of hunters unite to take the Quails, and employ a

similar manœuvre, except that, instead of merely walking round

the Quails, they approach simultaneously from opposite points,

and then circle round them until the birds are supposed to be

sufficiently packed. At a given signal they all converge upon the

terrified birds, and take them by thousands at a time.

In Northern Africa these birds are captured in a very similar

fashion. As soon as notice is given that a flight of Quails has

settled, all the men of the village turn out with their great

burnouses or cloaks. Making choice of some spot as a centre, where

a quantity of brushwood grows or is laid down, the men surround it

on all sides, and move slowly towards it, spreading their cloaks in

their outstretched hands, and flapping them like the wings of huge

birds. Indeed, when a man is seen from a little distance performing

this act, he looks more like a huge bat than a human being.

As the men gradually converge upon the brushwood, the Quails

naturally run towards it for shelter, and at last they all creep

under the treacherous shade. Still holding their outspread cloaks

in their extended hands, the hunters suddenly run to the brushwood,

fling their cloaks over it, and so enclose the birds in a trap from

which they cannot escape. Much care is required in this method of

hunting, lest the birds should take to flight, and so escape. The

circle is therefore made of very great size, and the men who compose

it advance so slowly that the Quails prefer to use their legs rather

than their wings, and do not think of flight until their enemies are

so close upon them that their safest course appears to be to take

refuge in the brushwood.

Boys catch the Quails in various traps and springes, the

most ingenious of which is a kind of trap, the door of which

over-balances itself by the weight of the bird.

By reason of the colour of the Quail, and its inveterate habit

of keeping close to the ground, it easily escapes observation,

and even the most practised eye can scarcely distinguish a single

bird, though there may be hundreds within a very small compass.

Fortunately for the hunters, and unfortunately for itself, it

betrays itself by its shrill whistling note, which it frequently

emits, and which is so peculiar that it will at once direct the

hunter to his prey.

This note is at the same time the call of the male to the female

and a challenge to its own sex. Like all the birds of its group,

the Quail is very combative, and generally fights a battle for the

possession of each of its many mates. It is not gifted with such

weapons of offence as some of its kinsfolk, but it is none the

less quarrelsome, and fights in its own way as desperately as the

game-cock of our own country.

Indeed, in the East, it is used for exactly the same purpose as

the game-cock. Battles between birds and beasts, not to say men,

are the common amusement with Oriental potentates, and, when they

are tired of watching the combats of the larger animals, they have

Quail-fights in their own chambers. The birds are selected for this

purpose, and are intentionally furnished with stimulating food,

so as to render them even more quarrelsome than they would be by

nature. Partridges are employed for the same cruel purpose; and as

both these birds are easily obtained, and are very pugnacious, they

are especially suited for the sport.

Two passages occur in the Scriptures which exactly explain the mode

in which the Quails were sent to the Israelites. The first is in

Ps. lxxviii. 26. The Psalmist mentions that the Lord "caused an

east wind to blow in the heaven, and by His power He brought in the

south wind." Here, on examining the geographical position of the

Israelites, we see exactly how the south-east wind would bring the

Quails.

The Israelites had just passed the Red Sea, and had begun to

experience a foretaste of the privations which they were to expect

in the desert through which they had to pass. Passing northwards

in their usual migrations, the birds would come to the coast of

the Red Sea, and there would wait until a favourable wind enabled

them to cross the water. The south-east wind afforded them just the

very assistance which they needed, and they would naturally take

advantage of it.

It is remarkable how closely the Scriptural narrative agrees with

the habits of the Quail, the various passages, when compared

together, precisely coinciding with the character of the bird. In

Exod. xvi. 13 it is mentioned that "at even the quails came up and

covered the camp." Nocturnal flight is one of the characteristics of

the Quail. When possible, they invariably fly by night, and in this

manner escape many of the foes which would make great havoc among

their helpless columns if they were to fly by day.

The identity of the Selâv with the common Quail is now seen to be

established. In the first place, we have the name still surviving

in the Arabic language. Next, the various details of the Scriptural

narrative point so conclusively to the bird, that even if we were to

put aside the etymological corroboration, we could have but little

doubt on the subject. There is not a detail which is not correct.

The gregarious instinct of the bird, which induces it to congregate

in vast numbers; its habit of migration; its inability to fly

against the wind, and the necessity for it to await a favourable

breeze; its practice of flying by night, and its custom of merely

skimming over the surface of the ground; the ease with which it is

captured; the mode of preserving by drying in the sun, and the

proverbial delicacy of its flesh, are characteristics which all

unite in the Quail.

* * * * *

Before closing our account of the Quail, it will be as well to

devote a short space to the nature of the mode by which the

Israelites were twice fed. Commentators who were unacquainted

with the natural history of the bird have represented the whole

occurrence as a miraculous one, and have classed it with the

division of the Red Sea and of the Jordan, with the various plagues

by which Pharaoh was induced to release the Israelites, and with

many other events which we are accustomed to call miracles.

[Illustration: birds]

In reality, there is scarcely anything of a miraculous character

about the event, and none seems to have been claimed for it. The

Quails were not created at the moment expressly for the purpose of

supplying the people with food, nor were they even brought from any

great distance. They were merely assisted in the business on which

they were engaged--namely, their migration or customary travel from

south to north, and waiting on the opposite side of the narrow sea

for a south-east wind. That such a wind should blow was no miracle.

The Quails expected it to blow, and without it they could not have

crossed the sea. That it was made to blow earlier than might have

been the case is likely enough, but that is the extent of the

miraculous character of the event.

THE RAVEN.

The Raven tribe plentiful in Palestine--The Raven and the

Dove--Elijah and the Ravens--Desert-loving habits of the

Raven--Notions of the old commentators--Ceremonial use of the

Raven--Return of the Ravens--Cunning of the bird--Nesting-places

of the Raven--The magpie and its character--The starling--Its

introduction into Palestine.

It is more than probable that, while the Hebrew word _oreb_

primarily signifies the bird which is so familiar to us under the

name of RAVEN, it was also used by the Jews in a much looser sense,

and served to designate any of the Corvidæ, or Crow tribe, such as

the raven itself, the crow, the rook, the jackdaw, and the like. We

will first take the word in its restricted sense, and then devote a

brief space to its more extended signification.

As might be expected from the cosmopolitan nature of the Raven, it

is very plentiful in Palestine, and even at the present time is

apparently as firmly established as it was in the days when the

various Scriptural books were written.

There are few birds which are more distinctly mentioned in the

Holy Scriptures than the Raven, though the passages in which its

name occurs are comparatively few. It is the first bird which is

mentioned in the Scriptures, its name occurring in Gen. viii. 7:

"And it came to pass at the end of forty days that Noah opened the

window of the ark which he had made;

"And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro until the

waters were dried up from off the earth."

Here we have, at the very outset, a characteristic account of the

bird. It left the ark, and flew to and fro, evidently for the

purpose of seeking food. The dove, which immediately followed

the Raven, acted in a different manner. She flew from the ark in

search of food, and, finding none, was forced to return again. The

Raven, on the contrary, would find plenty of food in the bodies

of the various animals that had been drowned, and were floating

on the surface of the waters, and, therefore, needed not to enter

again into the ark. The context shows that it made the ark a

resting-place, and that it "went forth to and fro," or, as the

Hebrew Bible renders the passage, "in going and returning," until

the waters had subsided. Here, then, is boldly drawn the distinction

between the two birds, the carrion-eater and the feeder on vegetable

substances--a distinction to which allusion has already been made in

the history of the dove.

[Illustration: THE RAVEN.]

Passing over the declaration in Lev. xi. 15 and Deut. xiv. 14, that

every Raven (_i.e._ the Raven and all its tribe) is unclean, we

come to the next historical mention of the bird. This occurs in 1

Kings xvii. When Elijah had excited the anger of Ahab by prophesying

three years of drought, he was divinely ordered to take refuge by

the brook Cherith, one of the tributaries of the Jordan. "And it

shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded

the ravens [_orebim_] to feed thee there.

[Illustration: ELIJAH FED BY THE RAVENS.]

"So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went

and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

"And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and

bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook."

In this passage we have a history of a purely miraculous character.

It is not one that can be explained away. Some have tried to do so

by saying that the banished prophet found the nests of the Ravens,

and took from them daily a supply of food for his sustenance. The

repetition of the words "bread and flesh" shows that the sacred

writer had no intention of signifying a mere casual finding of food

which the Ravens brought for their young, but that the prophet was

furnished with a constant and regular supply of bread and meat twice

in the day. It is a statement which, if it be not accepted as the

account of a miracle, must be rejected altogether.

The desert-loving habit of the Raven is noticed in Isa. xxxiv. 11:

"The cormorant 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."

* * * * *

We will now pass to the notices of the Raven as given by the writers

and commentators of the Talmud.

Being an unclean bird, and one of ill omen, it was not permitted

to perch on the roof of the Temple. According to some writers, it

was kept off by means of scarecrows, and according to others, by

long and sharp iron spikes set so closely together that there was

no room for the bird to pass between them. The latter is by far the

more probable account, as the Raven is much too cunning a bird to be

deceived by a scarecrow for any length of time. It might be alarmed

at the first sight of a strange object, but in a very short time it

would hold all scarecrows in supreme contempt.

Its carrion-eating propensities were well known to the ancient

writers, who must have had many opportunities of seeing the Raven

unite with the vultures in consuming the bodies, not only of dead

animals, but of warriors killed in battle. So fond was the Raven of

this food that, according to those writers, the very smell of human

blood attracted the bird; and, if a man accidentally cut himself, or

if he were bled for some illness, the odour of the blood would bring

round the spot all the Ravens of the place.

The punctuality with which the Raven, in common with all its kin,

returns to its roosting-place, was also familiar to the Talmudists,

who made rather an ingenious use of this habit The ceremonial law of

the Jews required the greatest care in observing certain hours, and

it was especially necessary to know the precise time which marked

the separation of one day from another. This was ascertained easily

enough as long as the day was clear, but in case of a dull, murky

day, when the course of the sun could not be traced, some other plan

was needed.

In the olden times, no artificial means of measuring time were

known, and the devout Jew was consequently fearful lest he might

unwittingly break the law by doing on one day an act which ought

to have been done on another. A convenient method for ascertaining

the time was, however, employed, and, as soon as the Ravens, rooks,

and similar birds were seen returning to their homes, the sun was

supposed to be setting.

This habit of returning regularly at the same time is mentioned by

Mr. Tristram in his "Land of Israel:"--

"Of all the birds of Jerusalem, the raven is decidedly the most

characteristic and conspicuous. It is present everywhere to eye and

ear, and the odours that float around remind us of its use. On the

evening of our arrival we were perplexed by a call-note, quite new

to us, mingling with the old familiar croak, and soon ascertained

that there must be a second species of raven along with the common

_Corvus corax_. This was the African species (_Corvus umbrinus_,

Hed.), the ashy-necked raven, a little smaller than the world-wide

raven, and here more abundant in individuals.

"Beside these, the rook (_Corvus agricola_, Trist.), the common

grey, or hooded crow (_Corvus cornix_, L.), and the jackdaw (_Corvus

monedula_, L.), roost by hundreds in the sanctuary. We used to watch

them in long lines passing over our tents every morning at daybreak,

and returning in the evening, the rooks in solid phalanx leading the

way, and the ravens in loose order bringing up the rear, generally

far out of shot. Before retiring for the night, popular assemblies

of the most uproarious character were held together in the trees of

the Kedron and Mount Olivet, and not until sunset did they withdraw

in silence, mingled indiscriminately, to their roosting-places on

the walls.

"My companions were very anxious to obtain specimens of these

Jerusalem birds, which could only be approached as they settled for

the night; but we were warned by the Consul that shooting them so

close to the mosque might be deemed a sacrilege by the Moslems, and

provoke an attack by the guardians of the Haram and the boys of the

neighbourhood. They finally determined, nevertheless, to run the

risk; and stationing themselves just before sunset in convenient

hiding-places near the walls, at a given signal they fired

simultaneously, and, hastily gathering up the spoils, had retreated

out of reach, and were hurrying to the tents before an alarm could

be raised. The discharge of ten barrels had obtained fourteen

specimens, comprising five species.

[Illustration: RAVENS' ROOSTING-PLACE.]

"The same manœuvre was repeated with equal success on another

evening; but on the third occasion the ravens had learned wisdom by

experience, and, sweeping round Siloam, chose another route to their

dormitory."

Those who have tried to come within gunshot of a Raven, can

appreciate this anecdote, and can understand how the Raven would

ever afterwards keep clear of the spot where the flash and smoke

of fire-arms had twice appeared. In a large garden in which the

sparrows used to congregate, it was a custom of the owner to lay a

train of corn for the sparrows to eat, and then to rake the whole

line with a discharge from a gun concealed in an outhouse. A tame

Raven lived about the premises, and as soon as it saw any one

carrying a gun towards the fatal outhouse, it became much alarmed,

and hurried off to hide itself. As soon as the gun was fired, out

came the Raven from its place of concealment, pounced on one of the

dead sparrows, carried it off, and ate it in its private haunt.

[Illustration: birds in flight]

The nest to which the Raven returns with such punctuality is placed

in some spot where it is safe from ordinary intruders. The tops of

lofty trees are favoured localities for the nest, and so are old

towers, the interior of caves, and clefts in lofty precipices.

THE OSTRICH.

Hebrew words designating the Ostrich--Description of the bird

in the Book of Job--Ancient use of Ostrich plumes--Supposed

heedlessness of eggs and young--Mode of depositing the

eggs--Hatching them in the sand--Natural enemies of the

Ostrich--Anecdote of Ostriches and their young--Alleged

stupidity of the Ostrich--Methods of hunting and snaring the

bird--The Ostrich in domestication--Speed of the Ostrich--The

flesh of the bird prohibited to the Jews--Ostrich eggs and their

uses--Food of the Ostrich--Mode of drinking--Cry of the Ostrich,

and reference made to it in Micah.

There is rather a peculiarity about the manner in which this bird is

mentioned in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures, and, unless

we go to the original Hebrew, we shall be greatly misled. In that

version the Ostrich is mentioned only three times, but in the Hebrew

it occurs eight times.

The Hebrew word _bath-haya'nah_, which is translated in the

Authorized Version as "owl," ought really to be rendered as

"Ostrich." Taking this to be the case, we find that there are

several passages in the Scriptures in which the word has been used

in the wrong sense.

In those places, instead of rendering the word as "owl," we ought to

read it as "Ostrich."

The first mention of this bird occurs in Lev. xi. 16, and the

parallel passage of Deut. xiv., in which the Ostrich is reckoned

among the unclean birds, without any notice being given of its

appearance or habits.

In the Book of Job, however, we have the Ostrich mentioned with that

preciseness and fulness of description which is so often the case

when the writer of that wonderful poem treats of living creatures.

"Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and

feathers unto the ostrich?

"Who leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust,

"And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast

may break them.

"She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not

hers: her labour is in vain without fear;

"Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He imparted

to her understanding.

"What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse

and his rider." (Job xxxix. 13-19.)

There is rather a peculiarity in the translation of this passage,

wherein the word which has been translated as "peacock" is now

allowed to be properly rendered as "Ostrich," while the word which

is translated as "Ostrich" ought to have been given as "feathers."

The marginal translation gives the last words of ver. 13 in a rather

different manner, and renders it thus:--"Gavest thou the goodly

wings unto the peacocks, or the feathers of the stork and ostrich?"

The Hebrew Bible renders the next verses as follows:--

"She would yet leave her eggs on the earth, and warm them in dust;

and forget that the foot may crush them, or that the beast of the

field may break them.

"She is hardened against her young ones, for those not hers; being

careless, her labour is in vain."

In the same Book, chap. xxx., is another passage wherein this bird

is mentioned. "I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I

cried in the congregation.

"I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls," or Ostriches,

in the marginal and correct reading. The Jewish Bible also

translates the word as Ostriches, but the word which the Authorized

Version renders as "dragons" it translates as "jackals." Of this

point we shall have something to say on a future page. A somewhat

similar passage occurs in Isa. xliii. 20: "The beast of the field

shall honour me, the dragons and the owls" (Ostriches in marginal

reading), "because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in

the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen." The Jewish Bible

retains the same reading, except that the word "dragons" is given

with the mark of doubt.

Accepting, therefore, the rendering of the Hebrew as Ostriches, let

us see how far the passages of Scripture agree with the appearance

and habits of the bird.

Here I may observe that, although in the Scriptures frequent

allusions are made to the habits of animals, we are not to look for

scientific exactness to the Scriptures. Among much that is strictly

and completely true, there are occasional errors, to which a most

needless attention has been drawn by a certain school of critics,

who point to them as invalidating the truth of Scripture in general.

The real fact is, that they have no bearing whatever on the truth or

falsehood of the Scriptural teachings.

The Scriptures were written at various times, for instruction in

spiritual and not in temporal matters, and were never intended for

scientific treatises on astronomy, mathematics, zoology, or any

such branch of knowledge. The references which are made to the

last-mentioned subject are in no case of a scientific nature, but

are always employed by way of metaphor or simile, as the reader must

have seen in the previous pages. No point of doctrine is taught by

them, and none depends on them.

The Spirit which conveyed religious instruction to the people

could only use the means that existed, and could no more employ

the scientific knowledge of the present time than use as metaphors

the dress, arms, and inventions of the present day. The Scriptures

were written in Eastern lands for Orientals by Orientals, and were

consequently adapted to Oriental ideas; and it would be as absurd to

look for scientific zoology in the writings of an ancient Oriental,

as for descriptions of the printing-press, the steam-engine, the

photographic camera, or the electric telegraph.

So, when we remember that only a few years ago the real history of

the Ostrich was unknown to those who had made zoology the study of

their lives, we cannot wonder that it was also unknown to those who

lived many centuries ago, and who had not the least idea of zoology,

or any kindred science.

Still, even with these drawbacks, it is wonderful how accurate in

many instances were the writers of the Scriptures, and the more

so when we remember the character of the Oriental mind, with its

love of metaphor, its disregard of arithmetical precision, and its

poetical style of thought.

We will now take the passage in Job xxxix. In ver. 13 reference is

made to the wings and feathers of the Ostrich. If the reader will

refer to page 310, he will see that the feathers of the Ostrich were

formerly used as the emblem of rank. In this case, they are shown

as fastened to the heads of the horses, and also in the form of a

plume, fixed to the end of a staff, and appended to a chariot, as

emblematical of the princely rank of the occupier. In the ancient

Egyptian monuments these Ostrich plumes are repeatedly shown, and in

every case denote very high rank. These plumes were therefore held

in high estimation at the time in which the Book of Job was written,

and it is evidently in allusion to this fact that the sacred writer

has mentioned so prominently the white plumes of the Ostrich.

Passing the next portion of the description, we find that the

Ostrich is mentioned as a bird that is careless of its eggs, and

leaves them "in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and

forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may

break them."

Now it is true that the Ostrich is often known to take the greatest

care of its eggs, the male collecting and sitting on them, and

watching them with loving assiduity, and by some persons this fact

has been brought forward as a proof that the writer of the Book of

Job was mistaken in his statements. A further acquaintance with the

habits of the bird tells us, however, that in those parts of the

world which were known to the writer of that book the Ostrich does

behave in precisely the manner which is described by the sacred

writer.

Several females lay their eggs in the same nest, if the title of

nest can be rightly applied to a mere hollow scooped in the sand,

and, at least during the daytime, when the sun is shining, they

simply cover the eggs with sand, so as to conceal them from ordinary

enemies, and leave them to be hatched by the warm sunbeams. They

are buried to the depth of about a foot, so that they receive the

benefit of a tolerably equable warmth. So much, then, for the

assertion that the Ostrich leaves her eggs "in the earth, and

warmeth them in the dust."

We next come to the statement that she forgets that "the foot may

crush them, or that the wild beast may break them." It is evident

from the preceding description that eggs which are buried a foot

deep in the sand could not be crushed by the foot, even were they of

a fragile character, instead of being defended by a shell as thick,

and nearly as hard, as an ordinary earthenware plate. Neither would

the wild beast be likely to discover much less to break them.

[Illustration: OSTRICH AND NEST.]

A more intimate acquaintance with the history of the Ostrich shows

that, even in this particular, the sacred writer was perfectly

correct. Besides the eggs which are intended to be hatched, and

which are hidden beneath the sand to be hatched, a number of

supplementary eggs are laid which are not meant to be hatched,

and are evidently intended as food for the young until they are

able to forage for themselves. These are left carelessly on the

surface of the ground, and may easily be crushed by the hoof of a

horse, if not by the foot of man. We meet, however, with another

statement,--namely, that they may be broken by the wild beasts. Here

we have reference to another fact in the history of the Ostrich.

The scattered eggs, to which allusion is made, are often eaten,

not only by beasts, but also by birds of prey; the former breaking

the shells by knocking them against each other, and the latter by

picking up large stones in their claws, rising above the eggs, and

dropping the stones on them. The bird would like to seize the egg,

rise with it in the air, and drop it on a stone, as mentioned on

page 414, but the round, smooth surface of the egg defies the grasp

of talons, and, instead of dropping the egg upon a stone, it is

obliged to drop a stone upon the egg.

Up to the present point, therefore, the writer of the Book of Job is

shown to be perfectly correct in his statements. We will now proceed

to verse 16: "She is hardened against her young ones, as though they

were not hers." Now in the Jewish Bible the passage is rendered

rather differently: "She is hardened against her young ones, for

those not hers;" and, as we shall presently see, the reading

perfectly agrees with the character of the Ostrich.

There has long existed a belief that the Ostrich, contrary to the

character of all other birds, is careless of her young, neglects

them, and is even cruel to them. That this notion was shared by the

writer of the Book of Job is evident from the preceding passage.

It also prevailed for at least a thousand years after the Book of

Job was written. See Lam. iv. 3: "Even the sea monsters draw out

the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my

people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness."

It is probable that this idea respecting the cruelty of the Ostrich

towards its young is derived from the fact that if a flock of

Ostriches be chased, and among them there be some very young birds,

the latter are left behind by their parents, and fall a prey to the

hunters. But, in reality, the Ostrich has no choice in the matter.

The wide sandy desert affords no place of concealment in which it

might hide its young. Nature has not furnished it with weapons by

means of which it can fight for them; and consequently it is forced

to use the only means of escape by which it can avoid sacrificing

its own life, as well as the lives of the young.

It does not, however, leave the young until it has tried, by all

means in its power, to save them. For example, it sometimes has

recourse to the manœuvre with which we are so familiar in the

case of the lapwing, and pretends to be wounded or lamed, in order

to draw the attention of its pursuers, while its young escape

in another direction. An instance of this practice is given by

Mr. Andersson in his "Lake Ngami." "When we had proceeded little

more than half the distance, and in a part of the plain entirely

destitute of vegetation, we discovered a male and female ostrich,

with a brood of young ones, about the size of ordinary barn-yard

fowls. We forthwith dismounted from out oxen, and gave chase, which

proved of no ordinary interest.

"The moment the parent birds became aware of our intention, they set

off at full speed--the female leading the way, and the cock, though

at some little distance, bringing up the rear of the family party.

It was very touching to observe the anxiety the birds evinced for

the safety of their progeny. Finding that we were quickly gaining

upon them, the male at once slackened his pace and diverged somewhat

from his course; but, seeing that we were not to be diverted from

our purpose, he again increased his speed, and, with wings drooping

so as almost to touch the ground, he hovered round us, now in wide

circles, and then decreasing the circumference until he came almost

within pistol-shot, when he abruptly threw himself on the ground,

and struggled desperately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a

bird that has been badly wounded.

"Having previously fired at him, I really thought he was disabled,

and made quickly towards him. But this was only a ruse on his part,

for, on my nearer approach, he slowly rose, and began to run in a

different direction to that of the female, who by this time was

considerably ahead with her charge." Nor is this a solitary instance

of the care which the Ostrich will take of her young. Thunberg

mentions that on one occasion, when he happened to ride near a place

where an Ostrich was sitting on the eggs, the bird jumped up and

pursued him, evidently with the object of distracting his attention

from the eggs. When he faced her, she retreated; but as soon as he

turned his horse, she pursued him afresh.

The care of the mother for the young is perhaps less needed with

the Ostrich than with most birds. The young are able to run with

such speed that ordinary animals are not able to overtake them, and,

besides, they are protected by their colour as long as they are

comparatively helpless. Their downy plumage harmonizes completely

with the sandy and stony ground, even when they run, and when they

crouch to the earth, as is their manner when alarmed, even the most

practised eye can scarcely see them. Mr. Andersson, an experienced

hunter, states that when the Ostrich chicks were crouching almost

under his feet, he had the greatest difficulty in distinguishing

their forms.

Owing to the great number of the eggs that are laid, the young are

often very numerous, between thirty and forty chicks sometimes

belonging to one brood. In the Ostrich chase which has already been

described, the brood were eighteen in number, and so great was

their speed that, in spite of their youth and diminutive size, Mr.

Andersson only succeeded in capturing nine of them after an hour's

severe chase.

We find, therefore, that we must acquit the Ostrich of neglecting

its young, much more of cruelty towards them; and we will now turn

to the next charge against the bird, that of stupidity.

In one sense, the bird certainly may be considered stupid. Like

nearly all wild creatures which live on large plains, it always runs

against the wind, so as to perceive by scent if any enemies are

approaching. Its nostrils are very sensitive, and can detect a human

being at a very great distance. So fastidious is it in this respect,

that no hunter who knows his business ever attempts to approach the

Ostrich except from leeward. If a nest is found, and the discoverer

wishes the birds to continue laying in it, he approaches on the

leeward side, and rakes out the eggs with a long stick.

The little Bushman, who kills so many of these birds with his tiny

bow and arrow, makes use of this instinct when he goes to shoot the

Ostrich, disguised in a skin of one of the birds. Should an Ostrich

attack him, as is sometimes the case, he only shifts his position

to windward, so as to allow the birds to catch the scent of a human

being, when they instantly make off in terror.

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.

[Illustration: ARABS HUNTING THE 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 three

hundred and fifty pounds, 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.

[Illustration: peaceful scene]

THE BITTERN.

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--Nest of

the Bittern--Scarcity of the bird at the present day--Food of

the Bittern.

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.]

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.

[Illustration:

BITTERN. CORMORANT.

]

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.

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.

[Illustration: wetland]

[Illustration: THE HERON.]

THE HERON.

The Heron mentioned as an unclean bird--Nesting of the

Heron--The papyrus marshes and their dangers--Description of the

papyrus--Vessels of bulrushes.

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 housebuilding, 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.]

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 slighest 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.

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.

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 a man 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.

[Illustration: THE HOME OF THE HERON.]

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 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.

"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.

[Illustration: THE PAPYRUS PLANT.]

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. From the name "papyrus" our word paper is derived. The

stems of the plant, after having been split into thin slices, joined

together, and brought to a smooth surface, formed the paper upon

which the ancient Egyptians wrote.

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.

[Illustration: jungle scene]

THE CRANE.

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

habits, and loud voice--Geographical range of the Crane--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."

[Illustration: THE CRANE.]

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.

The species here mentioned is the common Crane, a bird which has a

very wide range, and which seeks a warm climate on the approach of

winter.

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.

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 rhœa, 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.

[Illustration: water side]

[Illustration: stork]

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--The Stork always protected.

In the Old Testament there are several passages wherein is mentioned

the word _Chasidah_.

The Authorized Version invariably renders the word _Chasidah_ as

"Stork" and is undoubtedly right.

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.

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.

[Illustration: STORKS AND THEIR NESTS.]

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 at 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 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.

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 if

unconscious of there being anything under its charge."

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.

[Illustration: A NEST OF THE WHITE STORK.]

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.

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.

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 SCRIPTURE).]

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.

As 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.

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.

THE CORMORANT.

The word _Shâlâk_ and its signification--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.

Weighing, carefully, 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 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.

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 there

are lakes or large rivers.

While the ducks and teal and widgeons may be 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 very interesting 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.

THE PELICAN.

The Pelican of the wilderness--Attitudes of the bird--Its love

of solitude--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.

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.]

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.

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.