190 NATURAL HISTORY. 



of birds, or takes an egg or two for the purposes of science, is not held to be excused. They 

 have often called down the curse of heaven upon my head for so doing; and, indeed, my brown 

 servants vised to tremble for me, as they said that the curse was bound to take effect. I nevtr 

 abused them in return, for I could not but admire the feelings which inspired them on those 

 occasions, sentiments so noble, and so deeply founded, that I have always dreaded the curse, 

 despite of myself. 



"In former days it may possibly have been thus in all countries. In those days all birds 

 were loved and cherished by man, some being, indeed, regarded by him as sacred. He saw con- 

 nected with their appearance and departure those various phenomena of nature which took place 

 the year round, and whose changes, &c., they did not then understand ; he regarded the arrival 

 of the migratory visitors with holy awe, as though the Deity Himself had appeared. In this 

 manner the Egyptians held the Ibis to be sacred. When the Nile, after being at its lowest ebb, 

 rose again, and the water assumed a red tinge, then the Ibis appeared in the land of the 

 Pharaohs as sure guarantee that the stream the giver and preserver of life, which the people 

 in their profound reverence raised to the rank of a god would once again empty the well-spring 

 of plenty over the thirsty land. The servant and messenger of this all-bounteous Deity com- 

 manded of necessity a reverence of a poetic and distinguished character, by reason of its 

 importance : he, too, must also be a god ! How beautiful, intelligent, and simple was this messenger I 

 The Ibis is one of the most amiable and winning birds I have ever met with. It associates of 

 its own accord so much with man that the trouble of taming the bird is but slight, and 

 takes place almost without any advances on the part of the former. This the ancient Egyptians 

 were fully aware of, for we find that they read the great book of nature with intelligence 

 and care, and it is owing to this that they deified the bird. On this account its remains 

 were preserved by their priests from decay, and kept for thousands of years, until the spirit, 

 suffered by permission of an. All-wise God to wander in space, should return to its earthly tenement. 

 Like the human body, that of the bird was embalmed in the same spices in which the mortal 

 remains of kings had been preserved from the ravages of time ; and like them, over the sarcophagus 

 a heap of stones was raised as a monument to the bird. One of the pyramids at Sakkara is dedicated 

 to the Ibis. 



" Now, the Ibis is no longer venerated ; the sacred bird has sunk to the rank of an ordinary 

 mortal. Isis and Osiris have been supplanted by the Crescent and the Cross ; and with the ancient 

 gods vanished Thot, their celestial messenger. He no longer appears in Egypt to announce to the 

 people the rising of the sacred waters ; they believe no longer in his mission. He lives retired 

 far up the mighty sti-eam, ' who hides his source,' as though he felt called upon to watch the veil 

 behind which the origin of the ancient god lies hidden to this day. He lives, however, a thousand 

 times over in the splendid remains of a mighty past. His form stands out clearly among the 

 hieroglyphics of the sacred writings, and thousands of years hence the porphyry will bear his image, 

 so long confided to its care." What Dr. Brehm says about the Sacred Ibis not now occurring in 

 Egypt is quite time, as it is only a rare and occasional straggler to that country, though it is 

 plentiful in other parts of Africa. 



THE FOURTH FAMILY OF THE HERODIONES. THE FLAMINGOES (Phanieopterida). 



These curious birds are often placed with the Anatidce, or Ducks, with which their internal 

 anatomy allies them, but in their osteology they are intermediate between the Anseres and the 

 Storks and Herons, to which they also show an approach in their extremely long legs. Ths neck 

 of the Flamingo is very long, and the bill is quite peculiar. 



About eight species of Flamingo are known to science, and they are found in most of the 

 temperate and tropical portions of both the Old and New Worlds, but do not occur in the Australian 

 region, nor in the northern parts of either hemisphere. One species (P. andinus) is only known 

 to inhabit the Chilian Andes, and appears to be a mountain species. Many of the others have 

 tolerably wide ranges, and all appear to frequent the same kind of haunts, affecting marshes 

 and shallow lakes. The European Flamingo (Plmnicopterus antiquorum) is a migrant to Southern 

 Europe, arriving as early as February, though the principal flights take place in April, May, and 



