FABLE AND FOLKLORE 153 



parrot senseless chatter or the lavish repetition of an- 

 other's ideas or sayings; cuckoo, poaching on another 

 man's domestic preserves ; and so on down to the stork, 

 which in Germany symbolizes filial piety because of its 

 fancied solicitude toward aged storks, and which children 

 are taught to believe brings babies from the fountain to 

 their mothers' laps. The Chinese and Japanese peasantry 

 hold the Mandarin duck in high esteem as a model of 

 conjugal virtues, because it is said to mate for life, and 

 Hindoos feel the same toward their (sarus) crane — a 

 bird that figures extensively in the legendary lore of both 

 China and Japan. Figures of the crane are found deco- 

 rating bridal attire in Japan, and this bird is commended 

 to womankind generally in Nippon as an example of 

 motherhood to be emulated. "In this respect it is like 

 the pheasant, which is said to stay by her young during 

 a grass-fire, covering them with her outstretched wings 

 until, together, they perish in the flames ; for in a similar 

 way the crane shields her young from the bitter cold of 

 the winter snows." 



In ancient Egypt the plume of the ostrich, "on account 

 of the mathematical equality of the opposing barbs in 

 point of length — a peculiarity not present in the primary 

 feathers of any other bird with which the Egyptians were 

 acquainted — was regarded as the sacred symbol of justice." 

 Osiris was represented with two ostrich plumes in his 

 crown. Says Dr. Cyrus Adler: "The Egyptian con- 

 sidered the hoopoe as symbolical of gratitude because it 

 repays the early kindness of its parents in their old age 

 by trimming their wings and bringing them food when 

 they are acquiring new plumage. The Arabs call it 

 'doctor/ believing it to possess marvellous medicinal 

 qualities, and they use its head in charms and incanta- 



