346 THE SACRED IBIS. 



birds to the snare. We remember seeing in tbe South of 

 France a tolerably large fallow-field actually sown with horse- 

 hair nooses, placed in straight lines, for catching Larks and 

 other small birds ; so closely were they set, that it was almost 

 impossible for any small bird to alight in the field, and run a 

 few feet, without being caught. The guiding avenue con- 

 sisted merely of two small twigs, curved outwardly on each 

 side : this external curve acting as a sufficient check to the 

 bird's free passage, excepting along the line of snares. The 

 labour of the person who had given himself the trouble of 

 setting them, was, we understood, amply repaid by the 

 numbers taken by this simple process. 



We shall conclude what we have to say on the Woodcock, 

 or, as it is scientifically termed, the Scolopax genus, by a 

 few remarks upon one species, which was formerly an object 

 of adoration amongst the ancient Egyptians, during life; 

 and, after death, was honoured with funeral rites equal to 

 those bestowed upon their kings and princes, being entombed 

 in sacred monuments, and still found as mummies, em- 

 balmed with precious ointments and divers kinds of spices. 

 It was to this bird that St. Paul chiefly alludes in Romans 

 i. 23, when he accuses the Gentiles of changing the glory of 

 the incorruptible G-od into an image made like to cor- 

 ruptible man and to birds ; and it was this bird, again, 

 which formed part of the idol abominations alluded to in the 

 vision of Ezekiel. It is called the Ibis religiosa, or Sacred 

 Ibis, and is peculiar to Egypt, and the countries bordering 

 on the river Nile, coming down from Ethiopia on the 

 increase of the river ; and from this circumstance is named 

 by the Arabs, Abou-mengel (Father of the Sickle), in allu- 

 sion to the fruits of harvest, which are derived from the 

 inundations of the Nile. It feeds on the smaller reptiles, 

 and, as the Arabs still say, on serpents, which has by many 

 been supposed the sole cause of its being worshipped by the 

 Egyptians ; but this appears doubtful, and we are inclined, 

 with some other high authorities, to attribute their respect 

 for it to another cause namely, a fancied resemblance to 

 the moon, whether from the curved and crescent shape of its 



