434 HISTORY OF 



a poem on this subject, of which we have nothing 

 remaining. These fables have been adopted each 

 by one of the earliest fathers of the church. 

 " Behold," says St Ambrose, " the little bird, 

 which in the midst of the winter lays her eggs on 

 the sand by the shore. From that moment the 

 winds are hushed, the sea becomes smooth, and 

 the calm continues for fourteen days. This is the 

 time she requires ; seven days to hatch, and seven 

 days to foster her young. Their Creator has 

 taught these little animals to make their nest in 

 the midst of the most stormy season, only to 

 manifest his kindness by granting them a lasting 

 calm. The seamen are not ignorant of this bless- 

 ing ; they call this interval of fair weather their 

 halcyon days; and they are particularly careful 

 to seize the opportunity, as then they need fear 

 no interruption." This, and a hundred other 

 instances might be given of the credulity of man- 

 kind with respect to this bird : they entered into 

 speculations concerning the manner of her calm- 

 ing the deep, the formation of her nest, and her 

 peculiar sagacity ; at present we do not specu- 

 late, because we know, with respect to our king- 

 fisher, that most of the facts are false. It may 

 be alleged, indeed, with some show of reason, 

 that the halcyon of the ancients was a different 

 bird from our king-fisher ; it may be urged, that 

 many birds, especially on the Indian Ocean, build 

 a floating nest upon the sea ; but still the history 

 of the ancient halcyon is clogged with endless 

 fable ; and it is but an indifferent method to vin- 



