i 4 o BIRDS IN LEGEND 



purity by reason, no doubt, of its whiteness, as of un- 

 stained snow or light — the same feeling that prescribes 

 white raiment in such church services as the confirmation 

 of girls, and white veils and flowers for brides. This, 

 probably, was the reason, too, why white doves, and even 

 geese, were acceptable for sacrifice in the Jewish temple 

 of old from those who could not afford to give a lamb. 

 Mary, mother of Jesus, offered doves at her sacrificial 

 purification ; and that these birds were commonly used for 

 that purpose is evident from the fact that a great trade in 

 them had grown up in and around the temple in 

 Jerusalem, profaning it, so that later Jesus drove away 

 from its hallowed precincts "them that sold doves." A 

 tradition says that Moses, a good economist, decreed as a 

 proper sacrifice-offering either a turtle-dove or two young 

 pigeons, because doves were good to eat at any time, 

 whereas pigeons (the larger and wilder stock) were tough 

 and unpalatable except as squabs; and it is to be re- 

 membered that the edible flesh of sacrificed animals was 

 afterward eaten, and for that end was divided equally be- 

 tween the offerer and the priests. 



A more widespread, popular and persistent notion 

 makes the dove the symbol of peace, usually depicted with 

 a spray of olive in its beak. How the olive came to have 

 this character has been thoroughly discussed by the Rev. 

 H. Friend. 11 It appears to be largely an accidental 

 acquisition, even if one believes that the idea is derived 

 from the olive-leaf brought back by the dove that Noah 

 sent forth from the ark. In old times a tree-branch of 

 any sort served as does a modern flag of truce between 

 warring factions; or was held aloft as a sign of friendly 

 intentions when strangers approached others without 



