112 



THE OOLOGIST. 



to the high pinnacle of fame. He spread 

 a lustre over his chosen occupation 

 which has been brightened by the long 

 line of venerable followers. Wilson 

 may justly be regarded as the pioneer 

 of American ornithology; and the place 

 which his chosen science now holds in 

 the public favor, must be considered as 

 principally owing to his exertions. He 

 paved the way for the science which 

 has numbered in its ranks some of the 

 greatest educators of the nation; some 

 of the giants of the land. Audubon was 

 scarcely more than a boy when the first 

 volume of his American Ornithology 

 was published, and he was travelling 

 the country from north to south solicit- 

 ing subscribers for his efforts. 



It may seem a little strange to us that 

 Wilson failed to succeed in his poetical 

 efforts. The great difficulty in his poet- 

 ry is the lack of that grace and freedom 

 of experience which characterizes the 

 verses of his superiors in the art. He 

 was a man of strong feeling and had a 

 great abhorrence of anything base or 

 mean; but was deficient in language. 

 But these early poetical inspirations 

 were not without their effect upon his 

 writings in later days. As we read his 

 description of birds we can not fail to 

 discern touches and passages of great 

 poetical beauty. 



He published in 1789 a small volume 

 of his poems called "Poems, Humorous, 

 Satirical, and Sei'ious by Alexander 

 Wilson." Two editions were published; 

 but he realized no profit from the sale. 

 Many years after, when he became en- 

 gaged in the science which has made 

 his name honored among men; he wrote 

 on the fly-leaf of a copy of his poems, 

 "I published these poems when only 

 twenty-two, an age more abundant in 

 sail than ballast. Reader, let this soft- 

 en the rigor of criticism a little. Dated 

 Gray's Ferry, July 6, 1804." 



At another time he said, "There were 

 the sins of my youth; and, if I had tak- 

 en my good old father's advice, they 

 would never have seen the light." 



Queer Myths About Birds. 



From the earliest period of time from 

 which we have any knowledge about 

 the myths and omens of the various 

 races, the bird has always been the oe- 

 casion of many superstitions, the follow- 

 ing of which are only a few. 



One of the oddities of the Egyptian 

 religion was the homage paid to birds, 

 the penalty' for killing a Hawk or an 

 Ibis, was immediate death. The feath- 

 er of an ostrich was to the Egyptian an 

 emblem of justice, the same of the eagle 

 is among some North American tribes 

 the sign of truth and among others of 

 bravery, and in Cairo, Egypt the Hoo- 

 doe, which is common there, is held in 

 reverence as the bird of Solomon, and 

 some Egyptian gods are pictured with 

 the heads of birds. In China the Crow 

 was formerly thought an evil omen, 

 The Romans too, held many queer ideas 

 and fancies about the different species 

 of birds, in the feeding of birds, if 

 the bird dropped from its bill the grain 

 that was thrown, to it, they considered 

 it a sign that the gods were pleased 

 with the subject in question, and had 

 taken this means of showing their ap- 

 proval, and the flight of birds was 

 thought a demonstration of the will of 

 Jupiter and while the Hawk and Eagle 

 both meant victory the Eagle was con- 

 sidered the stronger omen of the two, 

 but an Owl was A 7 ery unlucky, and a 

 bird seen upon the left side of a person 

 was an evil omen, while one on the right 

 side was thought good. 



In Australia the nati ves believe that 

 the cry of a Hawk in the night means 

 the death of a child, and that the bird 

 is taking off with it the childs soul, 

 The Syrians in ancient times ate all 

 birds except pigeons, which they looked 

 upon as holy. 



One of the birds in The Talmud, when 

 it spreads its wings, it covers the sun, 

 and what is still more queer is the idea 

 that the egg of one of these birds fell 

 out of the nest and the white of it 



