204 A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS 



the strangest things about it is that it knows the watches of the night, and apportions 

 the times for its night-crowing according to the length or shortness of the nights ; for 

 instance, if the night is fifteen hours in length, he crows, at stated intervals, the same 

 number of times as he does in a night of nine hours ; and this he does by a God-given 

 instinct. It is related that the Prophet (may the Peace and Blessing of God be upon 

 him) said, ' God the Most High has created a cock beneath His Throne, with wings that 

 can extend beyond the East and the West ; and towards dawn he spreads his wings, 

 and flaps them, and raises his voice in praise of Him, crying, " Glory to the Most Holy 

 King," and when he has ceased, all the cocks in the Earth join in returning that cry, 

 flapping their wings in like manner.' It is said that the chief caller-to-prayer amongst 

 the cocks is that breed that has long wattles and a castellated comb. The cock has a 

 sense of jealous honour about his wives, and he is generous to them, and cares for them. 

 It is a belief that, should a man rise from sleep at cock-crow, he will be fresh and bright 

 all day. A white cock puts to flight the lion. The best of cocks is the game-cock. Its 

 points are : a red comb, a thick neck, small and black eyes, sharp claws, a loud cry. 

 A cock is unselfish to his hens ; he takes a grain in his beak and casts it to them. It is 

 said that he does this in the time of his youth, when his passions dominate him ; but 

 that when he ages he no longer does so. The cock defends his hens from the attack of 

 an enemy, and at night collects them in a safe place and stands guard at the door. 

 They say, too, that the cock lays one egg in his lifetime, called in Arabic bayzat 'l-ttqr, 

 and that it is very small. The following lines are by the poet Bashshar : — 



" ' Thou hast visited me but once in all this time. 

 Make not thy visit rare like the ^g% of the cock.' 



" It is a belief that one who slaughters a white cock with a divided comb will suffer 

 loss in his possessions and in his house, and also that the Devil never enters a house in 

 which such a cock is to be found. As for the properties of the several parts of the cock, 

 if the comb be dried and pounded and given to drink, bad habits will depart from a 

 man. The smoke of the dried comb of a white or of a red cock does good to a madman. 

 The gall applied as a collyrium to the eyes, cures dimness of sight, or a film over the 

 eye. Some physician has said that the gall must be placed in a silver vessel and used 

 continuously to obtain a cure. Polonias has said that the gall of a cock, mixed with 

 mutton-broth and taken in the morning on a fasting stomach, is a cure for loss of 

 memory. If the wing-bone be bound on one suffering from intermittent fever, the fever 

 will depart. If a rider ties that bone on his loins he will suffer no fatigue. The blood, 

 used as a collyrium, is beneficial for film over the eyes. If the blood drawn in a cock- 

 fight be mixed with food and given to a number of people, it will cause dissension 

 amongst them. If you take a cock's blood and mix it with honey and place it on the 

 fire, the application will increase a man's virility. If you take the dried flesh of a cock 

 and pound it with equal quantities of gall-nuts and sumach, and make pills the size of 

 peas, and administer them with a draught of water to one that has a pain, he will be 

 relieved on the spot. In the stomach of the cock there is a pebble, sometimes sky-blue 

 in colour and sometimes crystal, which, if suspended around the neck of a madman, 

 cures him." 



