*346 
THE SACRED IBIS. 
birds to the snare. We remember seeing in tbe South of 
France a tolerably large fallow -field actually sown with horse- 
hair nooses, placed in straight lines, for catching Larks and 
other small birds ; so closely were they set, that it was almost 
impossible for any small bird to alight in the field, and run a 
few feet, without being caught. The guiding avenue consisted 
merely of two small twigs, curved outwardly on each side : this 
external curve acting as a sufficient check to the bird’s free 
passage, excepting along the line of snares. The labour of 
the person who had given himself the trouble of setting them, 
was, we understood, amply repaid by the numbers taken by 
this simple process. 
We shall conclude what we have to say on the Woodcock, 
or, as it is scientifically termed, the Scolopax genus, by a 
few remarks upon one species, which was formerly an object 
of adoration amongst the ancient Egyptians, during life; 
and, after death, was honoured with funeral rites equal to 
those bestowed upon their kings and princes, being entombed 
in sacred monuments, and still found, as mummies, em- 
balmed with precious ointments, and divers kinds of spices. 
It was to this bird that St. Paul chiefly alludes, in Romans 
i. 23, when he accuses the Gentiles of changing the glory of 
the incorruptible God into an image made like to cor- 
ruptible man and to birds ; and it was this bird, again, 
which formed part of the idol abominations alluded to in the 
vision of Ezekiel. It is called the Ibis religiosa , or Sacred 
Ibis, and is peculiar to Egypt, and the countries bordering 
on the river Nile, — coming down from Ethiopia on the 
increase of the river ; and from this circumstance is named 
by the Arabs, Abou-mengel, (Father of the Sickle,) in allu- 
sion to the fruits of harvest, which are derived from the 
inundations of the Nile. It feeds on the smaller reptiles, 
and, as the Arabs still say, on serpents, which has by many 
been supposed the sole cause of its being worshipped by the 
Egyptians ; but this appears doubtful, and we are inclined, 
with some other high authorities, to attribute their respect 
for it to another cause — namely, a fancied resemblance to 
the moon, whether from the curved and crescent shape of its 
