THE CRANE KIND. 



557 



divine honours to the ibis, as is universally 

 known. It has been usually supposed that 

 the ancient ibis is the same with that which 

 goes at present by the same name ; a bird of 

 the stork kind, of about the size of a curlew, 

 all over black, with a bill very thick in the be- 

 ginning, but ending in a point, for the better 

 seizing its prey, which is caterpillars, locusts, 

 and serpents. But however useful the mo- 

 dern ibis may be in ridding Egypt, where it 

 resides, of the vermin and venomous animals 

 that infest it ; yet it is much doubted whether 

 this be the same ibis to which the ancients 

 paid their adoration. Maillet, the French 

 consul at Cairo, observes, that it is very hard 

 to determine what bird the ancient ibis cer- 

 tainly was, because there are cranes, storks, 

 hawks, kites, and falcons, that are all equally 

 enemies to serpents, and devour a vast num- 

 ber. He farther adds, that in the month of 



May, when the winds begin to blow from the 

 internal parts of Africa, there are several 

 sorts of birds that come down from Upper 

 Egypt, from whence they are driven by the 

 rains, in search of a better habitation, and 

 that it is then they do this country such sig- 

 nal services. Nor docs the (igure of this bird, 

 hieroglyphically represented on their pillars, 

 mark it sufficiently to make the distinction. 

 Besides, the modern ibis is not peculiar to 

 Egypt, as it is to be seen but at certain sea- 

 sons of the year; whereas we are informed 

 by Pliny, that this bird was seen no where 

 else. It is thought, therefore, that the true 

 ibis is a bird of the vulture kind, described 

 above, and called by some the capon of Ph&- 

 raoh, which not only is a devourer of serpents, 

 but will follow the caravans that go to Mecca, 

 to feed upon the offal of the animals that are 

 killed on the journey." 



CHAPTER CXV. 



OF THE BALEARIC AND OTHER FOREIGN CRANES. 



HAVING ended the last chapter with 

 doubts concerning the ibis, we shall begin this 

 with doubts concerning the Balearic Crane. 

 Pliny has described a bird of the crane kind 

 with a topping resembling that of the green 

 woodpecker. This bird for a long time con- 

 tinued unknown, till we became acquainted 

 with the birds of tropical climates, when one 

 of the crane kind with a topping was brought 

 into Europe, and described by Aldrovandus 

 as Pliny's Balearic Crane. Hence these birds, 

 which have since been brought from Africa 

 and the East in numbers, have received the 

 name of Balearic Cranes, but without any 

 just foundation. The real Balearic Crane of 

 Pliny seems to be the lesser ash-coloured 

 heron, with a topping of narrow white fea- 



The true ibis of the ancients differs from the stork, 

 in having a long, awl-shaped, slightly curved bill, without 

 the furrow from the nostrils observable in the stork : the 

 face is likewise destitute of feathers ; and it has a naked 

 jugular pouch. The body is of a whitish rufous colour, 

 with black quill-feathers; the face is red, and the bill pale 



thers ; or perhaps the egret, with two long 

 feathers that fall back from the sides of the 

 head. The bird that we are about to describe 

 under the name of the Balearic Crane, was 

 unknown to the ancients, and the heron or 

 egret ought to be reinstated in their just title 

 to that name. 



When we see a very extraordinary animal, 

 we are naturally led to suppose that there 

 must be something also remarkable in its his- 

 tory, to correspond with the singularity of its 

 figure. But it often happens that history fails 

 on tho^e occasions where we most desire in- 

 formation. In the present instance, in par- 

 ticular, no bird presents to the eye a more 

 whimsical figure than this, which we must be 

 content to call the Balearic Crane. It is pretty 



yellow. It inhabits, in vast flocks, the lower parts of 

 Eypt, which, after the inundation of the Nile, is infested 

 with swarms of reptiles and noxious insects : Jiese it de- 

 stroys with great expedition, and is for this reason held 

 sacred by the Egyptians. It is nearly forty inches long, 

 and rests in an erect posture. 



4L 



