180 Mr A. L. Adams on the Mummied Bodies of the Ibis, 



found only a leg or wing of an Ibis, from which I conjecture 

 that these may have been portions of mutilated carcases, 

 possibly half-destroyed, by dogs, &c. ; and as the bird was 

 so highly venerated, every part of it, wherever found, was 

 preserved with the greatest care. 



From the evidence of historians, and what can be in- 

 ferred from a study of the mummied Ibis, I think we may 

 fairly conclude, that the bird represented on the monu- 

 ments, and preserved in pits, was identical with the Ibis 

 religiosa of Cuvier, Ibis cetliiopica of Bonaparte, the Tan- 

 talus cethiopicus of Latham, &c. We can also show that it 

 was domesticated, and, in all probability, bred freely in 

 Egypt, roaming over the cultivated tracts in and about 

 certain towns, villages and temples, at least as late as the 

 first and second centuries of the Christian era. I believe 

 it disappeared with the religion in which it figured so con- 

 spicuously, and as the Christians increased, so the Ibis 

 decreased. One may contemplate a few survivors among 

 the ruins of Karnak, or on the battered walls of Thebes and 

 Memphis for a few years after their overthrow, just as if 

 the Hindu religion was to be overturned and a few sacred 

 bulls were to linger on the scenes of their former majesty. 



The vast numbers of the mummied Ibis met with, espe- 

 cially about ancient Memphis and Thebes, and the scarcity 

 in other places, lead me to suppose that the bird was not 

 universally distributed over Egypt ; indeed, like the other 

 sacred animals, it had its patron cities, Hermopolis being 

 the chief, as is stated by historians ; the site, however, of 

 this city has not been clearly defi.ned, and by some it is 

 conjectured to have been one of the many names for 

 Memphis ; at all events, the bird was excessively common 

 in and about the Pyramids. 



With reference to other birds, it appears that many of 

 the more common species were mummied,* the Kestrel, in 

 particular, which, however, does not seem to have been at 

 all so plentiful in comparison with the last. There can be 

 no doubt, however, that hawks were often kept in cages in 

 and about the temples. The Kestrel, the bird of Ee, Horus, 



* See author's " Notes and Observations on the Birds of Egypt and Nubia," 

 in the " Ibis" for 1863. 



