The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 95 
The name takes its origin from the pelican's voice, which was 
supposed to resemble the cry of the ass, and which, indeed, as 
a matter of fact, it does resemble. Wishing for information 
on this point, I wrote to Mr. Bartlett, the well-known 
naturalist of the Zoological Gardens, and he writes to me as 
follows : " The pelican utters a loud and single note, after 
the fashion of a bray or blare, and this is not unlike the voice 
of an ass." Similarly we have applied the term " Laughing 
Jackass " to the great kingfisher (Dacilogigas) of Australia. 
We now come to the Assyrian and Accadian names of the 
pelican. 
This bird is mentioned by several names in the lists, and 
once in the Historical Inscriptions : it is called tus-mu-u 
(IhJ ^ ^TTfcO' ah - hu - un ~ nu (t-t] ^ ^Trr and 
a-ta-an nahari (Jy ^^Jf! fy Qf) the Assyrians. 
Tusmu may, of course, be read cu-mu, but in that form the word 
is not easy of explanation. This tusmu is mentioned in the 
Annals of Sargon (Botta, 129), who relates his campaign with 
Merodach Baladan, king of Babylon. Being hard pressed, 
the Babylonian monarch shut himself and his army within 
the city of Dur Yakin, which had been surrounded by canals 
turned off from the Euphrates during the overflow of its 
waters. Of his position here, Sargon writes, " He, together 
with his auxiliaries and his forces, like a tusmu bird, amid the 
canals placed the ensigns of his royalty." The spectacle of 
an army placing itself within the water-protected area is 
compared to that of a flock of pelicans ; the king himself, 
with his royal or state accoutrements, being, perhaps, sur- 
rounded by his forces, on the look out for any meditated 
attack from the enemy. It is possible that reference here 
may be made to a peculiar habit of the pelicans, recorded by 
Dr. Ainsworth, in arranging themselves so as to provide 
against the attack of jackals, or other carnivorous enemies. 
" These birds congregate in the evening and have a grand 
soar in the air ; after which they alight where the plain is 
open, and the vegetation low and grassy ; disposing them- 
selves carefully in circles, with their heads outwards, so that 
jackals, or other enemies, ever hunting in the evening for 
