166 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



lew, some of the kite, others of the woodcock, some of the peacock, 

 some of the parrot, and some of the falcon. But let not the reader 

 be alarmed at this diversity of rendering, since it is the necessary 

 consequence of the scantiness of references to the bird in the sacred 

 text, and the absence of all description of its character and quali- 

 ties, in those passages in which it is spokei) of. The truth is, that 

 it is only referred to in the catalogue of birds prohibited by the Mo- 

 saic code, (Lev. xi. 19 ; Deut. xiv. 18 ;) and it is only from the im- 

 port of its name, or the known character of the birds with which it 

 is grouped, that we can form any conjecture of its specific charac- 

 ter. That the creature intended is some species of water bird, there 

 can be little doubt, if we give the sacred writer any credit for pro- 

 priety in his grouping, or system in his arrangement ; but what that 

 species may be, we are unable to decide. The Hebrew name is 

 from a root which signifies to breathe short, or snort through the nos- 

 trils, as in anger ; and as the heron is said to be of a very irritable 

 disposition, it may, perhaps, be the bird intended. 



