The Birth of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 1)1 
of reverence, and to have thus earned the name of " mothers 
of waters." 
(34.) The name of a bird called A GUS (^E^T 2fl^D' " lon g 
horn," by the Accadians, and na-adh-ru (^^f ££f ^JTT) 
by the Assyrians, occurs in the fifth volume of W.A.I., 27, 
3, ob., L 46. I have no doubt that the long-horned or long 
stiff-crested heron is intended. Nadharu or nddhru is the 
Heb. ndtar (1102, Arab. J±j), " to guard," " keep watch "; 
these attributes both suit the heron (Ardea cinerea), with its 
long, slender, occipital feathers, which will watch patiently, 
standing for hours together motionless, watching for any 
passing fish, mostly with its feet in the water, remaining 
" still as if carved out of wood." 
(35.) The buffed-back heron (Ardea russata or Herodias 
bubulcus) has peculiar habits, which were very likely to attract 
the notice of the observant Accadians and find expression in 
a name. This heron is known as the "cow bird" in countries 
where it is found, from its habit of associating with cows and 
sheep. It is, a writer in the "Ibis" (III, vol. ii, p. 245), 
speaking of this heron, writes, " always seen among cattle. I 
have seen a buffalo walking along with three or four of these 
birds or (Herodias intermedia) sitting on its back, reminding one 
of an itinerant vendor of plaster-of-Paris images." The buff- 
backed heron is common in Mesopotamia, as are also some 
other species. The Accadian character is ]^ J ^ ]} (H^T) 
the UA or cattle bird. The Assyrian equivalent is unhappily 
lost by fracture of the tablet. 
(36.) Some magnificent bird is evidently denoted by the 
Accadian word dhar-lugal-luv, 1 borrowed by the Assyrians, 
and represented in the Accadian column by dudurranu. 
The Assyrian name means literally " the variegated royal 
bird." I think that the flamingo is here intended. The 
Phoenicopterus antiquorum is a magnificent bird, and is quite a 
feature in certain marshy places in Mesopotamia. A wood- 
cut figure of this bird is given in Colonel Chesney's work, 
1 Un-gal (frf^ £|>-) to be read lu-gal, is one of the Accadian names for a 
king. (W.A.I., V,30, 1. 12.) 
