Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



that Bent found in the ruins of Mashonaland, 

 even as at Matiena in Italy the enemies and 

 allies of the Romans figured him. And then 

 for the first time I perceived why he had been 

 selected to represent the god of thunder-clouds, 

 before the Latins knew of Zeus and other 

 Greekish gods. In some way that I could 

 not make out he was using the branch as a 

 drum and rolling out a peal that must have 

 been heard a mile. 



Since then I have learned from better, more 

 patient observers how the woodpecker accom- 

 plishes his martial music. By quick, vigorous 

 blows of his beak the dead branch is set in 

 vibration ; then he lays his hollow beak against 

 the vibrating wood to add resonance to the 

 peal. A true performer on the xylophone, 

 he varies his drumming by springing from 

 one branch to another and thus gets a change 

 of note. The rolling naturally suggested 

 thunder, the more so because the ancients 

 thought he drummed before the rain, as indeed 



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