BIRDS AND POETRY. 
485 
the mark of his fall upon his breast; the burnt pinions 
and singed feathers are still visible; and to the present 
day he seeks with giant strides to flee from the wrath of 
the exasperated Deity. ” 
In this manner, amongst the Arabs, fairy tale and 
legend explain every visible wonder of creation; and, in 
my opinion, their elucidation is as good as any we can 
give. These myths are remarkable for the way in which 
the golden thread of faith is interwoven throughout the 
story, and that the name of God’s messenger to man is 
constantly mentioned in their charming poetry. 
According to our ideas the movements of a bird 
fascinate quite as much as its form. We are charmed 
with the graceful canter of the stag or roebuck, and still 
more with the rapid stride of the gazelle. But what is 
such motion other than being anchored to the clod,— 
cleaving to the earth ? The bird is furnished with other 
tools, and gifted with a means of locomotion, for which 
man yearns from his inmost soul. 
The flight of the bird is the most beautiful, the most 
perfect of all movements in the animal world; for it 
seems to spiritualise the perishable frame. To this I 
ascribe the fact that man has ever, from the very begin¬ 
ning, been envious of this same power, looking upon it as 
a godlike gift, and that he has even sought to determine 
the course of the future by its instrumentality. We often 
laugh at this childish superstition, forgetting that to this 
very day thousands place full belief in flight auguries, 
and that our imagination accords the gift of wings to the 
departed soul! 
When the ancient Egyptian priests sought to explain 
the mysteries of flight to their pupils,—when the Roman 
augur, or the Druid of our forests, sought, through the 
