Chapter II (11)

The Authorized Version invariably renders the word Chasidah as "Stork," and is undoubtedly right; though the Septuagint has no less than four different translations, reading it as "heron" in one place, "pelican" in another, "hoopoe" in another, and in the fourth instance leaving the word untranslated, but Græcized into the form of _asida_. It would have been better if the last-mentioned plan had been followed throughout.

There is, however, no doubt that the Authorized Version is perfectly correct; and it is followed by the Jewish Bible, in which no mark of doubt is affixed to the word.

In Buxtorf's Lexicon there is a curious derivation of the word. He says that the word _Chasidah_ is derived from _chesed_, a word that signifies benevolence. This word is used in many familiar passages; such as, "unworthy of all the _benefits_," "according to the multitude of Thy _mercies_," "exercising _pity_," and so forth.

According to some writers, the name was given to the Stork because it was supposed to be a bird remarkable for its filial piety; "for the storks in their turn support their parents in their old age: they allow them to rest their necks on their bodies during migration, and, if the elders are tired, the young ones take them on their backs." According to others, the name is given to the Stork because it exercises kindness towards its companions in bringing them food; but in all cases the derivation of the word is acknowledged to be the same.

Partly in consequence of this idea, which is a very old and almost universal one, and partly on account of the great services rendered by the bird in clearing the ground of snakes, insects, and garbage, the Stork has always been protected through the East, as it is to the present day in several parts of Europe. The slaughter of a Stork, or even the destruction of its eggs, would be punished with a heavy fine; and in consequence of the immunity which it enjoys, it loves to haunt the habitations of mankind.

In many of the Continental towns, where sanitary regulations are not enforced, the Stork serves the purpose of a scavenger, and may be seen walking about the market-place, waiting for the offal of fish, fowls, and the like, which are simply thrown on the ground for the Storks to eat. In Eastern lands the Stork enjoys similar privileges, and we may infer that the bird was perfectly familiar both to the writers of the various Scriptural books in which it was mentioned, and to the people for whom these books were intended.

When they settle upon a tract of ground, the Storks divide it among themselves in a manner that seems to have a sort of system in it, spreading themselves over it with wonderful regularity, each bird appearing to take possession of a definite amount of ground. By this mode of proceeding, the ground is rapidly cleared of all vermin; the Storks examining their allotted space with the keenest scrutiny, and devouring every reptile, mouse, worm, grub, or insect that they can find on it. Sometimes they will spread themselves in this manner over a vast extent of country, arriving suddenly, remaining for several months, and departing without giving any sign of their intention to move.

The wings of the Stork, which are mentioned in Holy Writ, are very conspicuous, and are well calculated to strike an imaginative mind. The general colour of the bird is white, while the quill feathers of the wings are black; so that the effect of the spread wings is very striking, an adult bird measuring about seven feet across, when flying. As the body, large though it may be, is comparatively light when compared with the extent of wing, the flight is both lofty and sustained, the bird flying a very great height, and, when migrating, is literally the "stork in the heavens."

Next we come to the migratory habits of the Stork.

Like the swallow, the Stork resorts year after year to the same spots; and when it has once fixed on a locality for its nest, that place will be assuredly taken as regularly as the breeding-season comes round. The same pair are sure to return to their well-known home, notwithstanding the vast distances over which they pass, and the many lands in which they sojourn. Should one of the pair die, the other finds a mate in a very short time, and thus the same home is kept up by successive generations of Storks, much as among men one ancestral mansion is inhabited by a series of members of the same family.

So well is this known, that when a pair of Storks have made their nest in a human habitation their return is always expected, and when they arrive the absentees are welcomed on all sides. In many countries breeding-places are specially provided for the Storks; and when one of them is occupied for the first time, the owner of the house looks upon it as a fortunate omen.

The localities chosen by the Stork for its nest vary according to the surrounding conditions. The foundation which a Stork requires is a firm platform, the more elevated the better, but the bird seems to care little whether this platform be on rocks, buildings, or trees. If, for example, it builds its nest in craggy places, far from the habitations of man, it selects some flat ledge for the purpose, preferring those that are at the extreme tops of the rocks. The summit of a natural pinnacle is a favourite spot with the Stork.

In many cases the Stork breeds among old ruins, and under such circumstances it is fond of building its nest on the tops of pillars or towers, the summits of arches, and similar localities. When it takes up its abode among mankind, it generally selects the breeding-places which have been built for it by those who know its taste, but it frequently chooses the top of a chimney, or some such locality.

Sometimes, however, it is obliged to build in spots where it can find neither rocks nor buildings, and in such cases it builds on trees, and, like the heron, is sociable in its nesting, a whole community residing in a clump of trees. It is not very particular about the kind of tree, provided that it be tolerably tall, and strong enough to bear the weight of its enormous nest; and the reader will at once see that the fir-trees are peculiarly fitted to be the houses for the Stork.

As is the case with so many zoological words, botanical names seem to be frequently used in a collective sense by the scriptural writers, several species being signified by a single name. Thus the word which is in some cases translated as "fir," is in some rendered as "pine-tree," in others as "juniper," and in others as "cypress." In the present case it is undoubtedly translated rightly, though in the Jewish Bible it is rendered as "cypress:" "The trees of the Eternal satisfy themselves, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted; where birds make their nests: as for the stork, cypresses are its house."

The particular species of fir-tree to which the Psalmist alludes is probably the Aleppo pine (_Pinus halepensis_), which comes next to the great cedars of Lebanon in point of size. It was this tree that furnished the timber and planks for Solomon's temple and palace, a timber which was evidently held in the greatest estimation. This tree fulfils all the conditions which a Stork would require in nest-building. It is lofty, and its boughs are sufficiently horizontal to form a platform for the nest, and strong enough to sustain it. On account of its value, and the reckless manner in which it has been cut down without new plantations being formed, the Aleppo pine has vanished from many parts of Palestine wherein it was formerly common, and would afford a dwelling-place for the Stork.

There are, however, several other species of fir which are common in various parts of the country, each species flourishing in the soil best suited to it, so that the Stork would never be at a loss to find a nesting-place in a country which furnished so many trees suitable to its purposes.

As may be expected from the localities chosen by the Stork for its breeding-place, its nest is very large and heavy. It is constructed with very little skill, and is scarcely more than a huge quantity of sticks, reeds, and similar substances, heaped together, and having in the middle a slight depression in which the eggs are laid. These eggs are usually three, or perhaps four in number, and now and then a fifth is seen, and are of a very pale buff or cream colour.

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

As is the case with the heron, the young of the Stork are quite helpless when hatched, and are most ungainly little beings, with their long legs doubled under them, unable to sustain their round and almost naked bodies, while their large beaks are ever gaping for food. Those of my readers who have had young birds of any kind must have noticed the extremely grotesque appearance which they possess when they hold up their heads and cry for food, with their bills open to an almost incredible extent. In such birds as the Stork, the heron, and others of the tribe, the grotesque appearance is exaggerated in proportion to the length and gape of the bill.

The Stork is noted for being a peculiarly kind and loving parent to its young, in that point fully deserving the derivation of its Hebrew name, though its love manifests itself towards the young, and not towards the parent.

The Rev. H. B. Tristram mentions from personal experience an instance of the watchful care exercised by the Stork over its young. "The writer was once in camp near an old ruined tower in the plains of Zana, south of the Atlas, where a pair of storks had their nest. The four young might often be seen from a little distance, surveying the prospect from their lonely height, but whenever any of the human party happened to stroll near the tower, one of the old storks, invisible before, would instantly appear, and, lighting on the nest, put its feet gently on the necks of all the young, so as to hold them down out of sight till the stranger had passed, snapping its bill meanwhile, and assuming a grotesque air of indifference, as unconscious of there being anything under its charge." (Smith's "Dict. Bible," vol. iii. p. 1384.)

The snapping noise which is here mentioned is the only sound produced by the Stork, which is an absolutely silent bird, as far as voice is concerned.

There is another species of Stork found in Palestine, to which the fir-trees are especially a home. This is the Black Stork (_Ciconia nigra_), which in some parts of the country is even more plentiful than its white relative, which it resembles in almost every particular, except that it has a dark head and back, the feathers being glossed with purple and green like those of the magpie. This species, which is undoubtedly included in the Hebrew word _chasidah_, always makes its nest on trees whenever it can find them, and in some of the more densely wooded parts of Palestine is in consequence plentiful, placing its nest in the deepest parts of the forests. When it cannot obtain trees, it will build its nest on rocky ledges. It lays two or three eggs of a greenish white colour.

Like the preceding species, the Black Stork is easily domesticated. Colonel Montague kept one which was very tame, and would follow its keeper like a dog. Its tameness enabled its proceedings to be closely watched, and its mode of feeding was thereby investigated. It was fond of examining the rank grass and mud for food, and while doing so always kept its bill a little open, so as to pounce down at once on any insect or reptile that it might disturb.

Eels were its favourite food, and it was such an adept at catching them that it was never seen to miss one, no matter how small or quick it might be. As soon as it had caught one of these active fish, it went to some dry place, and then disabled its prey by shaking and beating it against the ground before swallowing it, whereas many birds that feed on fish swallow their prey as soon as it is caught. The Stork was never seen to swim as the heron sometimes does, but it would wade as long as it could place its feet on the bed of the stream, and would strain its head and the whole of its neck under water in searching for fish.

It was of a mild and peaceable disposition, and, even if angered, did not attempt to bite or strike with its beak, but only denoted its displeasure by blowing the air sharply from its lungs, and nodding its head repeatedly. After the manner of Storks, it always chose an elevated spot on which to repose, and took its rest standing on one leg, with its head so sunk among the feathers of its shoulders that scarcely any part of it was visible, the hinder part of the head resting on the back, and the bill lying on the fore-part of the neck.

Though the bird is so capable of domestication, it does not of its own accord haunt the dwellings of men, like the White Stork, but avoids the neighbourhood of houses, and lives in the most retired places it can find. It may generally be seen in marshy grounds, spending the greater part of its time in procuring food, or in going to and from its nest while engaged in the task of feeding its young.

THE SWAN.

Signification of the word _Tinshemeth_--The Gallinule and the
Ibis--Appearance and habits of the Hyacinthine Gallinule--A
strange use for the bird--The White or Sacred Ibis--The bird
mentioned by Herodotus--The Glossy Ibis, or Black
Ibis--Veneration with which the bird was regarded.

In the two parallel chapters of Lev. xi. 18 and Deut. xiv. 16, the Hebrew word _tinshemeth_ is found, and evidently signifies some kind of bird which was forbidden as food. After stating (Lev. xi. 13) that "these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination," the sacred lawgiver proceeds to enumerate a number of birds, nearly all of which have already been described. Among them occurs the name of _tinshemeth_, between the great owl and the pelican.

What was the precise species of bird which was signified by this name it is impossible to say, but there is no doubt that it could not have been the Swan, according to the rendering of the Authorized Version. The Swan is far too rare a bird in Palestine to have been specially mentioned in the law of Moses, and in all probability it was totally unknown to the generality of the Israelites. Even had it been known to them, and tolerably common, there seems to be no reason why it should have been reckoned among the list of unclean birds.

On turning to the Hebrew Bible, we find that the word is left untranslated, and simply given in its Hebrew form, thereby signifying that the translators could form no opinion whatever of the proper rendering of the word. The Septuagint translates the Tinshemeth as the Porphyrio or Ibis, and the Vulgate follows the same rendering. Later naturalists have agreed that the Septuagint and Vulgate have the far more probable reading; and, as two birds are there mentioned, they will be both described.

"_These are they of which ye shall not eat ... the little owl, and the
great owl, and the swan._" DEUT. xiv. 12, 16.]

The first is the Porphyrio, by which we may understand the HYACINTHINE GALLINULE (_Porphyrio veterum_). All the birds of this group are remarkable for the enormous length of their toes, by means of which they are enabled to walk upon the loose herbage that floats on the surface of the water as firmly as if they were treading on land. Their feet are also used, like those of the parrots, in conveying food to the mouth. We have in England a very familiar example of the Gallinules in the common water-hen, or moor-hen, the toes of which are of great proportionate length, though not so long as those of the Purple Gallinule, which almost rivals in this respect the jacanas of South America and China. The water-rail, and corncrake or land-rail, are also allied to the Gallinules.

The Hyacinthine Gallinule derives its name from its colour, which is a rich and variable blue, taking a turquoise hue on the head, neck, throat, and breast, and deep indigo on the back. The large bill and the legs are red. Like many other birds, however, it varies much in colour according to age.

It has a very wide geographical range, being found in many parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is common in the marshy districts of Palestine, where its rich blue plumage and its large size, equalling that of a duck, render it very conspicuous. The large and powerful bill of this bird betokens the nature of its food, which consists almost entirely of hard vegetable substances, the seeds of aquatic herbage forming a large portion of its diet. When it searches for food on the seashore, it eats the marine vegetation, mixing with this diet other articles of an animal nature, such as molluscs and small reptiles.

Though apparently a clumsy bird, it moves with wonderful speed, running not only swiftly but gracefully, its large feet being no hindrance to the rapidity of its movements. It is mostly found in shallow marshes, where the construction of its feet enables it to traverse both the soft muddy ground and the patches of firm earth with equal ease. Its wings, however, are by no means equal to its legs either in power or activity; and, like most of the rail tribe, it never takes to the air unless absolutely obliged to do so.

The nest of the Hyacinthine Gallinule is made on the sedge-patches which dot the marshes, much like that of the coot. The nest, too, resembles that of the coot, being composed of reeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants. The eggs are three or four in number, white in colour, and nearly spherical in form.

The ancients were well acquainted with the Hyacinthine Gallinule, and were in the habit of keeping it tamed in their houses, in which case it was prized by the men and hated by the women. There was a popular idea about the bird that it always detected any infidelity on the part of the female sex, and that when the master of the house came home the bird acquainted him with the crime by making gestures as if it wished to strangle itself.

There are several species of Gallinule, but that which has just been described is the most conspicuous, and therefore, if either of the Gallinules be the Tinshemeth of the Jewish lawgiver, we may safely conclude that the Hyacinthine Gallinule is the species.

As, however, the Ibis has an equal claim to the title of Tinshemeth, we will devote a few lines to a description of the bird. The particular species which would be signified by the word _tinshemeth_ would undoubtedly be the WHITE or SACRED IBIS (_Ibis religiosa_), a bird which derives its name of Sacred from the reverence with which it was held by the ancient Egyptians, and the frequency with which its figure occurs in the monumental sculptures. It was also thought worthy of being embalmed, and many mummies of the Ibis have been found in the old Egyptian burial-places, having been preserved for some three thousand years.

In his account of the various animals which were accounted sacred by the Egyptians, Herodotus mentions the Ibis, mixing up a considerable amount of truth with a few errors, and a good deal of superstition. Having heard of the relics of some winged serpents near the city of Buto, he went to see them. "When I arrived there I saw bones and spines of serpents, in such quantities as it would be impossible to describe: there were heaps of these spinal bones, some large, some smaller, and some still less, and there were great numbers of them.

"The place in which these spinal bones lie scattered is of the following description:--It is a narrow pass between two mountains into a spacious plain; this plain is contiguous to the plain of Egypt. It is reported that, at the beginning of spring, winged serpents fly from Arabia towards Egypt; but that the ibises, a sort of bird, meet them at the pass, and do not allow the serpents to go by, but kill them. For this service the Arabians say that the ibis is highly reverenced by the Egyptians, and the Egyptians acknowledge that they reverence these birds for this reason.

"The ibis is of the following description. It is all over a deep black, it has the legs of a crane, its beak is much curved, and it is about the size of a _crex_. Such is the form of the black ones that fight with the serpents. But those that are commonly conversant among men (for there are two species) are bare on the head and the whole neck; have white plumage, except on the head, the throat, and the tips of the wings and extremity of the tail. In all these parts that I have mentioned they are of a deep black; in their legs and back they are like the other kind." (Herod. "Euterpe," 75, 76, Cary's translation.)

Putting aside the mention of the winged serpents, of which he only learned by hearsay, we find that Herodotus has given a very fair account of two species of Ibis,--namely, the GLOSSY or GREEN IBIS (_Ibis falcinellus_), and the White or Sacred Ibis, whose scientific names have already been given.

The Glossy Ibis has been known to come as far as the British shores, but it requires a much warmer climate than that of England in order to pass its life in a state of health. It has, however, a large geographical range, being found both in Northern Africa and Southern America. It derives its popular name from the rich glossy plumage, which shines with a metallic or rather a silken lustre that is singularly beautiful in life, and is with great difficulty preserved in stuffed specimens.

The principal hue of the bird is very deep green, but it is so "shot" with reflections of rich purple, blue, and gold, that it alters its hue with every change of light. At a little distance the deep green plumage looks quite black, as does that of the magpie, and on this account it has been called by Herodotus the Black Ibis.

This species is popularly called Abou Menzel, or Father Sickle-bill, on account of its slender curved beak, and in some places goes by the name of Abou Hannes, or Father John, because it makes its appearance upon or about St. John's Day. From all appearance, it does not feed upon snakes, seeming to restrict itself to molluscs and similar food; and, on account of this discrepancy with the account given by Herodotus, many writers have doubted whether it could really be the bird meant by that historian and traveller. But we must remember that, though he saw both the black and the white Ibis, he did not see either of them eat snakes; and as those who told him of their serpent-devouring habits stated at the same time that the snakes had wings like those of the bat, we may summarily dismiss their account from the argument.

The White Ibis, however, is the bird which was most highly venerated by the Egyptians, and probably for that very reason was placed among the list of prohibited birds in the ancient law. It is about as large as an ordinary hen, and, as its name imports, has the greater part of its plumage white, the ends of the wing-feathers and the coverts being black, with violet reflections. The long neck is black and bare, and has a most curious aspect, looking as if it were made of an old black kid glove, very much crumpled, but still retaining its gloss.

The reason for the extreme veneration with which the bird was regarded by the ancient Egyptians seems rather obscure. It is probable, however, that the partial migration of the bird was connected in their minds with the rise of the Nile, a river as sacred to the old Egyptians as the Ganges to the modern Hindoo. As soon as the water begins to rise, the Ibis makes its appearance, sometimes alone, and sometimes in small troops. It haunts the banks of the river, and marshy places in general, diligently searching for food by the aid of its long bill. It can fly well and strongly, and it utters at intervals a rather loud cry, dipping its head at every utterance. Specimens of these birds can be seen at the Zoological Gardens.

THE CORMORANT.

The word _Shâlâk_ and its signification--The Greek
Catarrhactes--Habits of the Cormorant--The bird trained to catch
fish--Mode of securing its prey--Nests and eggs of the
Cormorant--Nesting in fir-trees--Flesh of the bird.

Although in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures the word Cormorant occurs three times, there is no doubt that in two of the passages the Hebrew word ought to have been rendered as Pelican, as we shall see when we come presently to the description of that bird.

In the two parallel passages, Lev. xi. 17 and Deut. xiv. 17, a creature called the Shâlâk is mentioned in the list of prohibited meats. That the Shâlâk must be a bird is evident from the context, and we are therefore only left to discover what sort of bird it may be. On looking at the etymology of the word we find that it is derived from a root which signifies hurling or casting down, and we may therefore presume that the bird is one which plunges or sweeps down upon its prey.

All Hebraists have agreed that it is one of the sea-birds, and this view of the case seems to be taken in the Septuagint, where the word is rendered by Catarrhactes, a term that has the same derivation in Greek as the Shâlâk in Hebrew. It is indeed the same word from which we form our term "cataract," to express the manner in which the water plunges or is hurled down from a height.

In consequence of this derivation, several writers have thought that the Shâlâk might be the Solan goose, or gannet, a bird which lives on fish, and always takes its prey by darting down upon it from a height. This bird, however, although it certainly answers completely to the sense of the word _shâlâk_, is not common enough on the shores of Palestine to be specially mentioned among the unclean birds. Other writers, seeing this difficulty, have thought that the Shâlâk might be one of the terns, or sea-swallows, forgetful of the fact that these are not plunging birds, although exceedingly swift of flight.

Weighing, however, the opinions of the various Hebraists and naturalists, we may safely determine that the word _shâlâk_ has been rightly translated in the Authorized Version. The Hebrew Bible gives the same reading, and does not affix the mark of doubt to the word, though there are very few of the long list of animals in Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. which are not either distinguished by the mark of doubt, or, like the Tinshemeth, are left untranslated.

The Cormorant belongs to the family of the pelicans, the relationship between them being evident to the most unpractised eye; and the whole structure of the bird shows its admirable adaptation for the life which it leads.

Its long beak enables it to seize even a large fish, while the hook at the end prevents the slippery prey from escaping. The long snake-like neck gives the bird the power of darting its beak with great rapidity, and at the same time allows it to seize prey immediately to the right or left of its course. Its strong, closely-feathered wings enable it to fly with tolerable speed, while at the same time they can be closed so tightly to the body that they do not hinder the progress of the bird through the water; while the tail serves equally when spread to direct its course through the air, and when partially or entirely closed to act as a rudder in the water. Lastly, its short powerful legs, with their broadly-webbed feet, act as paddles, by which the bird urges itself through the water with such wonderful speed that it can overtake and secure the fishes even in their own element. Besides these outward characteristics, we find that the bird is able to make a very long stay under water, the lungs being adapted so as to contain a wonderful amount of air.

The method of catching prey which is practised by the Cormorant is familiar to us from the fact that the Cormorant has been trained to play the same part in the water as the falcon in the air, and has been taught to catch fish, and bring them ashore for its master. So adroit are they, that if one of them should catch a fish which is too heavy for it another bird will come to its assistance, and the two together will bring the struggling prey to land. Trained birds of this description have been employed in China from time immemorial, and in later years they have been re-introduced into England, where they have often exhibited their really wonderful powers.

In the days of Charles I. these birds were kept in training, and there was attached to the Court a professed official, called the Kings Master of the Cormorants. These birds were usually caught and trained in Holland, and thence exported to England. The disturbed state of the country during the civil wars, added to the sport-destroying character of the Puritans, seems to have caused the sport to be abandoned in this country, and it is only within the last few years that they have been again employed. In order to prevent it from swallowing the fish which it takes, each bird has a ring or ligature passed round its neck.

The Cormorant is a most voracious bird, swallowing a considerable weight of fish at a meal, and digesting them so rapidly that it is soon ready for another supply. Although it is essentially a marine bird, hunger often takes it inland, especially to places where are lakes or large rivers. Mr. Waterton mentions, in his "Essays on Natural History," that the Cormorants often visited the lake at Walton Hall, and that they soon became so familiar and fearless, that after catching and eating their prey they would sit on the terrace and preen their feathers under the windows of the drawing-room.

The lake is by no means a large one, and it is probable that the birds were attracted by the absolute security which was felt by every winged creature within the domain. "His skill in diving," writes Mr. Waterton, "is most admirable, and his success beyond belief. You may know him at a distance, among a thousand water-fowl, by his upright neck, by his body being apparently half immersed in the water, and by his being perpetually in motion when not on land.

"While the ducks and teal and widgeons are stationary on the pool, the cormorant is seen swimming to and fro, as if in quest of something. First raising his body nearly perpendicular, down he plunges into the deep, and, after staying there a considerable time, he is sure to bring up a fish, which he invariably swallows head foremost. Sometimes half an hour elapses before he can manage to accommodate a large eel quietly in his stomach.

"You see him straining violently with repeated efforts to gulp it; and when you fancy that the slippery mouthful is successfully disposed of, all on a sudden the eel retrogrades upwards from its dismal sepulchre, struggling violently to escape. The cormorant swallows it again, and up again it comes, and shows its tail a foot or more out of its destroyer's mouth. At length, worn out with ineffectual writhings and slidings, the eel is gulped down into the cormorant's stomach for the last time, there to meet its dreaded and inevitable fate."

Mr. Fortune gives a somewhat similar account of the feeding of tame Cormorants in China. The birds preferred eels to all other food, and, in spite of the difficulty in swallowing the slippery and active creature, would not touch another fish as long as an eel was left. The bird is so completely at home in the water that it does not need, like the heron and other aquatic birds, to bring its prey ashore in order to swallow it, but can eat fish in the water as well as catch them. It always seizes the fish crosswise, and is therefore obliged to turn it before it can swallow the prey with the head downwards. Sometimes it contrives to turn the fish while still under water, but, if it should fail in so doing, it brings its prey to the surface, and shifts it about in its bill, making a series of little snatches at it until the head is in the right direction. When it seizes a very large fish, the bird shakes its prey just as a dog shakes a rat, and so disables it. It is said to eat its own weight of fish in a single day.

Sometimes, when it has been very successful or exceptionally hungry, it loads itself with food to such an extent that it becomes almost insensible during the process of digestion, and, although naturally a keen-eyed and wary bird, allows itself to be captured by hand.

The nest of the Cormorant is always upon a rocky ledge, and generally on a spot which is inaccessible except by practised climbers furnished with ropes, poles, hooks, and other appurtenances. Mr. Waterton mentions that when he descended the Raincliff, a precipice some four hundred feet in height, he saw numbers of the nests and eggs, but could not get at them except by swinging himself boldly off the face of the cliff, so as to be brought by the return swing into the recesses chosen by the birds.

The nests are mostly placed in close proximity to each other, and are made of sticks and seaweeds, and, as is usual with such nests, are very inartificially constructed. The eggs are of a greenish white on the outside, and green on the inside. When found in the nest, they are covered with a sort of chalky crust, so that the true colour is not perceptible until the crust is scraped off. Two to four eggs are generally laid in, or rather on, each nest. As may be imagined from the character of the birds' food, the odour of the nesting-place is most horrible.

Sometimes, when rocks cannot be found, the Cormorant is obliged to select other spots for its nest. It is mentioned in the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society," that upon an island in the midst of a large lake there were a number of Scotch fir-trees, upon the branches of which were about eighty nests of the Cormorant.

The flesh of the Cormorant is very seldom eaten, as it has a fishy flavour which is far from agreeable. To eat an old Cormorant is indeed almost impossible, but the young birds may be rendered edible by taking them as soon as killed, skinning them, removing the whole of the interior, wrapping them in cloths, and burying them for some time in the ground.

From the account of this bird, the reader will see that it may well be the Shâlâk of the Old Testament. Owing to its size and its peculiar habits, it is a very conspicuous bird, and therefore likely to be selected by name by the ancient lawgiver. And although its flesh is not very agreeable, it can be eaten; and, as has been shown, can be rendered tolerably palatable by a very simple process. The flesh of the Solan goose is deprived in a similar manner of its naturally rank and fishy flavour.

THE PELICAN.

The Pelican of the wilderness--Attitudes of the bird--Its love
of solitude--Derivation of the Hebrew word--Fantastic
interpretation--Mode of feeding the young--Fables regarding the
Pelican--Breeding-places of the bird--The object of its wide
wings and large pouch--Colour of the Pelican.

On page 490 it has been mentioned that in two passages of Scripture, the word which is translated in the Authorized Version as Cormorant, ought to have been rendered as PELICAN. These, however, are not the first passages in which we meet with the word _kaath_. The name occurs in the two parallel passages of Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. among the list of birds which are proscribed as food. Passing over them, we next come to Ps. cii. 6. In this passage, the sacred writer is lamenting his misery: "By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

"I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert."

In these sentences, we see that the Kaath was a bird of solitude that was to be found in the "wilderness," _i.e._ far from the habitations of man. This is one of the characteristics of the Pelican, which loves not the neighbourhood of human beings, and is fond of resorting to broad, uncultivated lands, where it will not be disturbed.

In them it makes its nest and hatches its young, and to them it retires after feeding, in order to digest in quiet the ample meal which it has made. Mr. Tristram well suggests that the metaphor of the Psalmist may allude to the habit common to the Pelican and its kin, of sitting motionless for hours after it has gorged itself with food, its head sunk on its shoulders, and its bill resting on its breast.

This is but one of the singular, and often grotesque, attitudes in which the Pelican is in the habit of indulging.

"_I am like a pelican in the wilderness._"--PS. cii. 6.]

There are before me a number of sketches made of the Pelicans at the Zoological Gardens, and in no two cases does one attitude in the least resemble another. In one sketch the bird is sitting in the attitude which has just been described. In another it is walking, or rather staggering, along, with its head on one side, and its beak so closed that hardly a vestige of its enormous pouch can be seen. Another sketch shows the same bird as it appeared when angry with a companion, and scolding its foe in impotent rage; while another shows it basking in the sun, with its magnificent wings spread and shaking in the warm beams, and its pouch hanging in folds from its chin.

One of the most curious of these sketches shows the bird squatting on the ground, with its head drawn back as far as possible, and sunk so far among the feathers of the back and shoulders that only a portion of the head itself can be seen, while the long beak is hidden, except an inch or two of the end. In this attitude it might easily be mistaken at a little distance for an oval white stone.

The derivation of the Hebrew word _kaath_ is a very curious one. It is taken from a verb signifying "to vomit," and this derivation has been explained in different ways.

The early writers, who were comparatively ignorant of natural history, thought that the Pelican lived chiefly on molluscs, and that, after digesting the animals, it rejected their shells, just as the owl and the hawk reject the bones, fur, and feathers of their prey. They thought that the Pelican was a bird of a hot temperament, and that the molluscs were quickly digested by the heat of the stomach: "conchas enim, calore ventris coctas, rursus evomit, ut testis rejectis, esculenta seligat."

At the present day, however, knowing as we do the habits of the Pelican, we find that, although the reasons just given are faulty, and that the Pelican lives essentially on fish, and not on molluscs, the derivation of the word is really a good one, and that those who gave the bird the name of Kaath, or the vomiter, were well acquainted with its habits.

The bird certainly does eat molluscs, but the principal part of its diet is composed of fish, which it catches dexterously by a sort of sidelong snatch of its enormous bill. The skin under the lower part of the beak is so modified that it can form, when distended, an enormous pouch, capable of holding a great quantity of fish, though, as long as it is not wanted, the pouch is so contracted into longitudinal folds as to be scarcely perceptible. When it has filled the pouch, it usually retires from the water, and flies to a retired spot, often many miles inland, where it can sit and digest at its ease the enormous meal which it has made.

As it often chooses its breeding-places in similar spots, far from the water, it has to carry the food with which it nourishes its young for many miles. For this purpose it is furnished, not only with the pouch which has been just mentioned, but with long, wide, and very powerful wings, often measuring from twelve to thirteen feet from tip to tip. No one, on looking at a Pelican as it waddles about or sits at rest, would imagine the gigantic dimensions of the wings, which seem, as the bird spreads them, to have almost as unlimited a power of expansion as the pouch.

In these two points the true Pelicans present a strong contrast to the cormorants, though birds closely allied. The cormorant has its home close by the sea, and therefore needs not to carry its food for any distance. Consequently, it needs no pouch, and has none. Neither does it require the great expanse of wing which is needful for the Pelican, that has to carry such a weight of fish through the air. Accordingly, the wings, though strong enough to enable the bird to carry for a short distance a single fish of somewhat large size, are comparatively short and closely feathered, and the flight of the cormorant possesses neither the grace nor the power which distinguishes that of the Pelican.

When the Pelican feeds its young, it does so by pressing its beak against its breast, so as to force out of it the enclosed fish. Now the tip of the beak is armed, like that of the cormorant, with a sharply-curved hook, only, in the case of the Pelican, the hook is of a bright scarlet colour, looking, when the bird presses the beak against the white feathers of the breast, like a large drop of blood. Hence arose the curious legend respecting the Pelican, which represented it as feeding its young with its own blood, and tearing open its breast with its hooked bill. We find that this legend is exemplified by the oft-recurring symbol of the "Pelican feeding its young" in ecclesiastical art, as an emblem of Divine love.

This is one of the many instances in which the inventive, poetical, inaccurate Oriental mind has seized some peculiarity of form, and based upon it a whole series of fabulous legends. As long as they restricted themselves to the appearance and habits of the animals with which they were familiarly acquainted, the old writers were curiously full, exact, and precise in their details. But as soon as they came to any creature of whose mode of life they were entirely or partially ignorant, they allowed their inventive faculties full scope, and put forward as zoological facts statements which were the mere creation of their own fancy. We have already seen several examples of this propensity, and shall find more as we proceed with the zoology of the Scriptures.

The fabulous legends of the Pelican are too numerous to be even mentioned, but there is one which deserves notice, because it is made the basis of an old Persian fable.

The writer of the legend evidently had some partial knowledge of the bird. He knew that it had a large pouch which could hold fish and water; that it had large and powerful wings; and that it was in the habit of flying far inland, either for the purpose of digesting its food or nourishing its young. Knowing that the Pelican is in the habit of choosing solitary spots in which it may bring up its young in safety, but not knowing the precise mode of its nesting, the writer in question has trusted to his imagination, and put forward his theories as facts.

Knowing that the bird dwells in "the wilderness," he has assumed that the wilderness in question is a sandy, arid desert, far from water, and consequently from vegetation. Such being the case, the nurture of the Pelican's young is evidently a difficult question. Being aquatic birds, the young must needs require water for drink and bathing, as well as fish for food; and, though a supply of both these necessaries could be brought in the ample pouches of the parents, they would be wasted unless some mode of storing were employed.

Accordingly, the parent birds were said to make their nest in a hollow tree, and to line it with clay, or to build it altogether of clay, so as to leave a deep basin. This basin the parent birds were said to use as a sort of store-pond, bringing home supplies of fish and water in their pouches, and pouring them into the pond. The wild beasts who lived in the desert were said to be acquainted with these nests, and to resort to them daily in order to quench their thirst, repaying their entertainers by protecting their homes.

In real fact, the Pelican mostly breeds near water, and is fond of selecting little rocky islands where it cannot be approached without danger. The nest is made on the ground, and is formed in a most inartificial manner of reeds and grass, the general mass of the nest being made of the reeds, and the lining being formed of grass. The eggs are white, of nearly the same shape at both ends, and are from two to five in number. On an average, however, each nest will contain about two eggs.

The parent birds are very energetic in defence of their eggs or young, and, according to Le Vaillant, when approached they are "like furious harpies let loose against us, and their cries rendered us almost deaf. They often flew so near us that they flapped their wings in our faces, and, though we fired our pieces repeatedly, we were not able to frighten them." When the well-known naturalist Sonnerat tried to drive a female Pelican from her nest, she appeared not to be frightened, but angry. She would not move from her nest, and when he tried to push her off, she struck at him with her long bill and uttered cries of rage.

In order to aid the bird in carrying the heavy weights with which it loads itself, the whole skeleton is permeated with air, and is exceedingly light. Beside this, the whole cellular system of the bird is honeycombed with air-cells, so that the bulk of the bird can be greatly increased, while its weight remains practically unaltered, and the Pelican becomes a sort of living balloon.

The habit of conveying its food inland before eating it is so characteristic of the Pelican that other birds take advantage of it. In some countries there is a large hawk which robs the Pelican, just as the bald-headed eagle of America robs the osprey. Knowing instinctively that when a Pelican is flying inland slowly and heavily and with a distended pouch it is carrying a supply of food to its home, the hawk dashes at it, and frightens it so that the poor bird opens its beak, and gives up to the assailant the fish which it was bearing homewards.

It is evident that the wings which are needed for supporting such weights, and which, as we have seen, exceed twelve feet in length from tip to tip, would be useless in the water, and would hinder rather than aid the bird if it attempted to dive as the close-winged cormorant does. Accordingly, we find that the Pelican is not a diver, and, instead of chasing its finny prey under water, after the manner of the cormorant, it contents itself with scooping up in its beak the fishes which come to the surface of the water. The very buoyancy of its body would prevent it from diving as does the cormorant, and, although it often plunges into the water so fairly as to be for a moment submerged, it almost immediately rises, and pursues its course on the surface of the water, and not beneath it. Like the cormorant, the Pelican can perch on trees, though it does not select such spots for its roosting-places, and prefers rocks to branches. In one case, however, when some young Pelicans had been captured and tied to a stake, their mother used to bring them food during the day, and at night was accustomed to roost in the branches of a tree above them.

One of the two passages to which allusion has already been made in which the word _kaath_ has been wrongly translated, occurs in Isa. xxxiv. 10, 11: "From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

"But the cormorant [Pelican in margin] and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness."

These words form part of a prophecy concerning Idumæa or Edom, in which the desolation that is to come upon the land is painted in the most vivid colours. The streams are to be turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone; thorns are to come up in the palaces, and nettles and brambles in the fortresses, and the land is to be washed with blood. And so great is to be the desolation of the land, that even the Pelican, which keeps itself far from the habitations of men, is to possess it.

A similar figure is employed by the prophet Zephaniah, when writing of the utter destruction of Nineveh, that "rejoicing city, that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is no more beside me." In chap. ii. ver. 13, 14, the prophet writes as follows: "He will stretch out His hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

"And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations; both the cormorant [Pelican] and bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it, their voices shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the threshold: for He shall overcome the cedar work."

In both these passages the Jewish Bible renders the word _kaath_ as Pelican. For a further explanation of them the reader is referred to the article on the hedgehog.

It will be now seen that, accepting the Kaath to be the Pelican, the imagery of the scriptural writers is as accurate as it is forcible. Though under some circumstances a thoroughly social bird, it is yet fond of retiring to the most solitary spots in order to consume at peace the prey that it has captured; and, as it sits motionless and alone for hours, more like a white stone than, a bird, it may well be accepted as a type of solitude and desolation.

The colour of the common Pelican is white, with a very slight pinky tinge, which is most conspicuous in the breeding season. The feathers of the crest are yellow, and the quill feathers of the wings are jetty black, contrasting well with the white plumage of the body. The pouch is yellow, and the upper part of the beak bluish grey, with a red line running across the middle, and a bright red hook at the tip. This plumage belongs only to the adult bird, that of the young being ashen grey, and four or five years are required before the bird puts on its full beauty. There is no difference in the appearance of the sexes. The illustration on page 496 represents a fine old male Crested Pelican (_Pelecanus cristatus_). The general colour is greyish white, with a slight yellowish tint on the breast. The pouch is bright orange, and the crest is formed of curling feathers.

REPTILES.

THE TORTOISE.