The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 77 
impure or wicked person," Wilkinson states that the wag-tail 
is still called in Egypt aboo fussdd, " the father of corrup- 
tion," as if in memorial of the hieroglyphic character assigned 
to it by the ancient Egyptians. The delineations of birds and 
animals generally in the hieroglyphic system of the Egyptians 
are often excellent, and afford pretty safe guides to identifica- 
tion, and I have not the slightest doubt that the little bird in 
question is meant for the sparrow, and not a water-wagtail. 
In reply to some questions I asked Dr. Birch, always ready, out 
of his abundant stores of deep learning, to give help — he writes 
that there are two birds very like in form but different in 
meaning in the hieroglyphic texts, such as the swallow 
distinguished by its forked tail, called in the texts mena, and 
used for the syllable nr, with or without the <z=>, as or 
*?s^' The other bird has a more rounded tail, and is 
called by Champollion " a sparrow," the name of which 
appears in the hieratic papyri as tit tu, a kind of plague or 
affliction of the fields, hence used for t4 evil " in general as a 
determinative. From this it is seen that the Egyptians and 
the Assyrians held similar views as to the destructive nature 
of sparrows. 
(18.) The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) there can, I 
think, be no doubt is denoted by the Assyrian name of 
al-lal-luv (g:J<y J*"" ^►O' wnicn the Accadian SIB TUR 
(SHUII satisfactorily explains. Al-lal- luv is imitative, 
and must be compared with the Hebrew dial "to cry 
out," a term which may imply voices of grief or of joy. 
Compare for this latter idea Isaiah lii, 5 (^^), and the Greek 
6\o\v%€t,v. As applied to the starling, the voice is distinctly 
one of joy. No one can have walked along roadsides or in 
the fields in the autumn or early winter, without having 
witnessed large flocks of starlings assembling on various 
trees, and immediately setting up their joyful allalals in full 
chorus of exuberant gladness. The Accadian SIB Tint, "little 
shepherd " bird, is exactly descriptive of the starling, so 
often seen in meadow lands among sheep and cattle, search- 
ing for food on the ground, or frequently perched on the 
back of some cow or sheep, helping to rid it of unpleasant 
