Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



little fellow has just chipped the shell ; his 

 beak, wing and three-fingered hands are visible 

 where the egg-shell has been broken by his 

 efforts. 



It is not strange that birds fascinated the 

 ancient peoples ; they fascinate modern men 

 who think they know 

 everything and for the 

 most part are too ab- 

 sorbed by the struggle 

 for life in cities to look 

 long and closely at nature. In Rhode Island 

 I have watched on Conanicut cliffs a row of 

 sea-birds perching in a recess of the rock near 

 Horse's Head. About sundown, one after the 

 other, these birds would fly far out over the 

 swirling sea to the big black Kettle Rock 

 opposite Castle Hill, turn and return to its 

 perch. When the last had performed this 

 solemn rite, all went to sleep ; it was a fare- 

 well to the sun. And indeed, when one 

 thinks of the tailor-birds that weave, and the 



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