xiv THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



ful, the quarrelsome; and so on. However, it 

 should be emphasised that the prevailing note of 

 birddom is one of happiness and good cheer. As a 

 rule only sick birds, a few nocturnal birds, and car- 

 rion birds are mopish. 



From the point of view of appearance and char- 

 acteristics every bird has a counterpart in the animal 

 kingdom. It requires little imagination to see in 

 the bateleur eagle a feathered lion; in the night- 

 prowling owl a cat ; in the cunning hawk a fox ; in 

 the scavenger vulture a hyena ; in the raven a mis- 

 chievous dog; in the imitating parrot a monkey; in 

 the ostrich, the "feathered beast of burden," a 

 camel; in the blood-thirsty butcher-bird a weasel; in 

 the gnawing crossbill a squirrel ; in the house-wren a 

 mouse; in the cassawary a llama; in the duck the 

 duck-mole (duck-billed platypus) ; in the bustard a 

 stag; in the croaking bittern of the marshes a bull- 

 frog; in the tooth-billed falcon an alligator; in the 

 elephant-bird an elephant ; in the meat-bird a pan- 

 ther; in the oyster-catcher a raccoon; in the scale- 

 bird an armadillo; and even in the jackass-penguin 

 a jackass! 



The nomenclature of birds is all-embracing, and 

 ranges from the skunk-bird to the bird-of-the-Holy- 

 Ghost, from the dove of the Ark to the raven that 

 fed Elijah. The ibis was once worshipped in 



