274 



BIRDS. 



undergoing the ceremony, the shoulder to the fetchers of the 

 sacred water employed, the sirloin to the circumcisers, the 

 breast to the visitors, the ribs to make bodkins for parting 

 the hair, the dewlap to the blowers of the conch shells, and 

 so on, until every part of the creature has been appropriated, 

 and all concerned in the ceremonies or the killing have had 

 their proper share of the meat. 



Another ancient saying as to the uses of the ox thus 

 apportions the different parts of the animal : " Its horns to 

 the maker of spoons, its teeth to the plaiters of straw, its 

 ears to make medicine for a rash, its hump to make fat, its 

 rump to the sovereign, its feet to the oil-maker, its spleen to 

 the old men, its liver to the old women, its lights to fathers 

 and mothers-in-law, its tripe to the owner of the rope, its 

 neck to the owner of the axe, its haunch to the herald, its tail 

 to the weaver, its suet to the soap-maker, its hide to the 

 drum-maker, its head to the chief orator, its eyes to make 

 beads, its hoofs to the gun-maker," &c. 



Birds. — Turning from the quadrupeds to the birds, it has 

 already been remarked that owls were considered of ill-omen ; 

 and no one who has heard the unearthly screech of some of 

 the Madagascar owls can wonder that they should be held in 

 disfavour by a superstitious people. Their name, vbrondblo, 

 means "spirit-bird," and they are popularly supposed to be 

 embodiments of the departed spirits of evil men. But there 

 is another bird which is also looked upon with dread should 

 it fly across the path a person is taking. This is the Talcatra, 

 a bird which builds a very large nest resembling an immense 

 heap of hay or grass when viewed from below. No business 

 of importance would be undertaken by a Hova in former 

 times were his path crossed by one of these birds ; and if it 

 crossed the path before the chief idols these were obliged to 

 return to their houses. It was also believed that any one 

 destroying the nest of the Wcatra would be seized with 

 leprosy. 



Among the Tanala people the diviners foretell events " by 

 means of good and bad birds, according to their notes, or the 

 way they take in flying, and they profess to know whether 

 they bring good or evil. They look upon the kite as being a 



