90 The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 
their prey, cannot approach them unseen." On the great 
rivers, the pelicans more wisely select islands as their resting 
places. The position therefore of the king of Babylon, 
amid water-surrounded lands for safety, may not unaptly 
be compared to that of pelicans when threatened by their 
enemies. 
As to the meaning of the word tus-mu, it may be com- 
pared with the Hebrew ndsham (DIES)? "to blow" or "puff 
out"; the n (3) having dropped out of the Assyrian word, 
just as madata, " tribute," has come from mandatta, from 
"to give." The puffing-out bird being of course 
referable to its swollen pouch. The name of abbunnu may 
with equal probability be compared with the Arabic verb 
habin "Aqua intercute tumuit "inflavit" tumidum 
reddidit," " to be puffed out with fluid," which is strikingly 
true of the pouch of the pelican's bill, which is capable of 
enormous expansion, as every menagerie showman always 
takes care to exhibit to the visitors. The name of atdnnahari, 
however, gives the best key to the explanation of the other 
words. Atan is the Hebrew dton (p]lN) a " she ass," and 
ndri is the genitive case of naru " a river." The she ass of 
the waters, with its swollen mandibular bag, is the name 
of the Pelieanus onocrotalus as represented in the Assyrian 
names. The Accadian names, which are two in number, are 
not so easily explained. They are (1) NAM BIR MUKH dil LUV 
HM^ *r<^Id *~ lfe*0 and ( 2 ) RAG GU * * A (fc Hff)- 
Rag GUS SA may mean "the female pelican on her nest," or, 
more definitely, " with her young ones." Rag is the usual 
character for a " female " of any animal ; GUSSA is compared 
with tardin-nu, "offspring." (W.A.I., II, 29, 1. 64, with II, BO, 
L 46, where tir dinnu = mar, " son," " offspring.") Pelicans 
like many other birds are very tame when they have nests or 
young ones, and would thus have readily presented opportu- 
nities for close observation under such circumstances. They 
have been seen in large quantities on the Caspian, on the 
shallow marshy shores of which they breed. The ordinary 
species which is common on the Caspian is the Pelieanus 
onocrotalus, though P. crispus also occurs there. 
