XXX TAILS AND WINGS AS NUPTIAL LIVERY 379 
phrase and fable from the earliest dawn of civilisation. 
The hawk and ibis were worshipped by the ancient 
Egyptians, and in Christian worship some birds are 
symbols of the highest qualities of human nature. The 
dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the human 
soul, as well as for tenderness and conjugal love. A 
pair of turtle doves yoked to the chariot of Venus 
conveyed the goddess of love through the skies. 
The Eagle, King of Birds, was used as an emblem of 
empire by the Babylonians, Persians and French, and as 
an omen of Victory by the Greeks and Romans. As 
the emblem of St. John it serves, with outstretched 
wings, as a lectern in many thousand Christian churches. 
Birds find a place in our literature, whether it concerns 
Religion, Art, Poetry, Fables, Caricature, Comedy, or 
Tragedy. Their names are so incorporated in our 
language that at least a hundred are used as surnames 
by the people, such as crow, rook, jay, raven, hawk, 
buzzard, gull and finch, with several prefixes, such as 
gold, green, &c. The robin is so popular that its name 
is common as a Christian name as well as a surname. 
Many martins, swifts, swans and drakes will be found 
even in a Court Guide. 
Now we are beginning to learn something of the 
language and social customs of the natives of Eastern 
Ethiopia, it is clear that beasts and birds have a place 
in their superstitions. 
Hollis has reduced to writing some instances from the 
folk-lore of the w^arlike and savage Nandi. 
To them the francolin calls to tlie hyaena in the 
morning :— 
Hide in the wood. 
The lion growling says :— 
The owner of a cooking-pot is lucky, he can cook his meat. 
There is a small bird which builds a nest in the 
ground. To anyone going near the nest it cries :— 
Don’t tread on my head. 
