42 
THE BIRDS OF THE ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS 
AND RECORDS. 
By the Rev. William Houghton, M.A., F.L.S. 
Read 7th February, 1882. 
Before I introduce some of the various names of birds 
mentioned in the records, or the actual figures represented 
on the monuments, to your notice this evening, it will be 
desirable to make a few remarks on the subject generally. 
And first I wish to say a few words on the nature and value 
of the evidence afforded. We have to depend on the infor- 
mation supplied by actual figures on the monuments, such as 
on the slabs, cylinders, bronze dishes or other objects, and by 
the description of the birds given in the records. Unfor- 
tunately, the figures occur very sparingly, and when they do 
occur they are almost always very rudely drawn. The 
Assyrians either were not able or did not care to attempt any- 
thing like artistic effect, or even rude accuracy, in their deli- 
neations of bird-life ; these stand out in striking contrast to 
their often successful efforts to pourtray the forms of horses, 
cattle, sheep, goats, lions, dogs, hares, and other mammalia 
to which. 1 have referred in my former paper on this subject. 
In the case of such birds as present at a glance some striking 
characteristic in real life, the absence of any correct pictorial 
form is, so far as relates to identification, of slight conse- 
quence. The figures, for instance, of the ostrich, ludicrous 
and grotesque as they are, at once speak for themselves. 
The ostrich is a peculiar looking bird, and therefore the 
drawings cannot be mistaken for anything else. The figures 
of the head and neck of the swan clearly point to that bird 
and to no other; but, on the other hand, where there is 
nothing strikingly peculiar in the form of a bird, it is often 
impossible to say to what species, or even to what family, the 
representation refers. The figures of the large rapacious birds 
which occur as accompaniments of a battle-field scene, do 
not clearly tell us whether they are meant for eagles or io* 
