138 On the Kath of the Ancient Hebrews, 



Whether does the Psalmist'compare himself to those birds from 

 his moaning, his leanness, or his solitude ? 



There is no idea intimated in the psalm that the Psalmist 

 was in solitude, farther than that the birds with which he com- 

 pares himself were solitary. They are called the pelican of the 

 wilderness, the owl of the desert, the lonely bird on the house 

 top. In all probability these birds are said to be solitary, 

 because they cry when they are in that state. 



If it be said that the Psalmist compares himself to these 

 birds on account of his leanness, the comparison will only hold 

 betwixt himself and the pelican. This bird is always lean, and 

 so are most birds which live upon fish, particularly the gull 

 tribe ; but the owl is not mentioned for its leanness, nor the 

 lonely bird on the house top. 



If it be argued that he compares himself to these birds from 

 the resemblance of his moaning to their cry, w^e are disposed to 

 acquiesce. The cry of a man in grief is very disagreeable to the 

 ear, and the cry of the pelican has always been reckoned such. 



When David compared his moaning to the cry of the peli- 

 can, the comparison cannot be termed more improper than 

 that of Hezekiah, when he compared his chattering, as the 

 English Bible calls it, to that of the swallow and the crane, 

 which they utter on the wing, whether they be moved with 

 grief or not. 



Some other birds, which make a disagreeable noise, have 

 also been thought to be called onocrotali, particularly the bit- 

 tern and spoonbill. The noise which the bittern makes is 

 horrible and loud, and there have not been wanting some who 

 believe onocrotalus to be the bittern. Others reckon it to be 

 the spoonbill ; and it seems to be agreed upon that the spoon- 

 bill makes more noise than the pelican, but that it is not so 

 harsh. We agree with those who think the onocrotalus to be 

 the pelican, rather than the bittern or spoonbill ; though, at 

 the same time, it must be confessed that it is not very clear 

 what bird the ancients meant, either by the pelican or the 

 onocrotalus. 



Onocrotalus, if the etymology be considered, is any bird 

 whose cry is so harsh as to suggest the braying of an ass, 

 whether the bittern, spoonbill, or pelican of the moderns be 

 understood. Pelican, pelicanos; or, with the moderns, peli- 

 canus pelicani ; is still more uncertain in its application. Some 

 derive it from pelekan, to cut with an axe ; and Aristophanus 

 calls the Picus martins the pelican, " apo ton pelekan ta zula^^ 

 from cutting trees with its bill. Aristotle, Cicero, and Pliny, 

 however, seem to derive the word apo to2i plateos, from the 

 breadth of the bill, and certainly mean either the spoonbill, or 



