324 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
writer, the Ibis inspired the serpents with so much dread, that the 
very sight of its plumage was sufficient to drive them away. 
In the narrative of Herodotus, as we have seen, the expression 
“winged serpents” is probably used for venomous ones. ‘The trans- 
lation is rather a free one. Moreover, it is the opinion of M. Bourlet, 
who has written a memoir on the subject, that by the term ‘‘ winged 
serpents,” Herodotus intended to describe locusts, innumerable 
swarms of which were wont to traverse Egypt and the adjacent 
countries, destroying everything as they passed. This explanation 
appears to us better than the former, for it is a fact that the Ibis 
cannot attack serpents, its bill being too weak for such a purpose. 
Having quoted M. Bourlet’s opinion, we may as well give that 
of Savigny the naturalist, whose studies on the subject have been 
published in the “ Histoire Mythologique de I’ Ibis.” 
“Between aridity and contagion, the two scourges which in all 
ages have been so dreaded by the Egyptians,” says the author, ‘it 
was soon perceived that when a district was rendered fertile and 
healthy by pure and fresh water, it was immediately frequented by the 
Ibis, so that the presence of the one always indicated that of the 
other, just as if the two were inseparable ; they therefore believed 
that the two had a simultaneous existence, and fancied some super- 
natural and secret relations existed between them. This idea, being 
so intimately connected with the phenomena on which thew 
existence depended —I mean the periodical overflowing of their 
river—was the first motive for their veneration of the ibis, and 
became the basis of the homage which ultimately developed into the 
worship of the bird.” 
Thus, according to Savigny, the Ibis was venerated by the 
Egyptians only because it announced to them the annual over- 
flowing of the Nile. ‘This explanation is now generally accepted. 
This Bird, the attachment of which to Egypt was formerly so 
great that, according to lian, it died when taken from that country, 
strange to say, now is scarcely ever seen there. The cause of this 
probably is, that the modern Egyptians, treading under foot the 
ancient faith of their fathers, kill and eat the Ibis as they would any 
other fowl, without remembering its former rank of divinity. So, 
being deprived of the ancient protection which rendered Egypt so 
dear to it, the Ibis has almost deserted the ungrateful land of the 
Pharaohs. Still it occasionally pays brief visits to the Delta at the 
time of the rise of the Nile ; but it soon takes flight into the wilds of 
Abyssinia, forgotten and unregretted, It is also found in Senegal 
and at the Cape of Good Hope. 
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