much more strongly expressed in the sculptures than in nature; and I have met with one species in Egypt, which possesses this peculiarity in so remarkable a degree, as to leave no doubt respecting the actual bird called sacred in the country. I have therefore ventured to give it the name of Falco Aroeris. Numerous hawk mummies have been found at Thebes and other places. And such was the care taken by the Egyptians to preserve this useful and sacred bird, that even those which died in foreign countries*, where their armies happened to be, were embalmed and brought to Egypt to be buried in consecrated tombs. The kite was also treated with consideration, because it destroyed rats and noxious reptiles, and, like the Vultur percnopterus, aided in freeing the country of impurities which might be injurious to man. It does not, however, appear to have been worshipped as a sacred animal; though it is probable that, like the sparrow-hawk and others, it was thought to belong to Ré, the patron Deity of all the falcon tribe; the various members of which were represented by, or included under the name and form of, the sacred hawk. THE OWL. The horned and white owl are frequently represented in the sculptures; but there is no evidence of their having been sacred, which is the more re *Diodor. i. 84. Vide suprà, p. 94. markable, as this bird has been chosen in many countries as the emblem of a Deity, or connected with some mysterious notion. Its constant occurrence on the monuments, (where it stands for the letter m, and bears the sense of "in," "with," and "for,") together with the eagle, vulture, hawk, chicken, and swallow, led to the name "bird writing," which has been applied to hieroglyphics by the modern Egyptians. There is no reason for supposing the owl to have been an emblem of the Egyptian Minerva, as some have imagined. And if it obtained any degree of respect, for its utility in destroying noxious animals, the return for those benefits was thought to be sufficiently repaid, by the care with which it was embalmed after death. Several mummies of owls have been found in the Necropolis of Thebes. THE SPARROW, RAVEN, CROW, SWALLOW, According to Horapollot, the sparrow was used by the Egyptians to denote "a prolific man," and according to others, "the revolution of a year." *The Greeks and Romans applied to them the name of animal writing. Herodotus speaks of " the causeway of the pyramids, with the figures of animals carved upon it." (ii. 124.) Lucan says, "Saxis tantum volucresque feræque, Sculptaque servabant magicas animalia linguas." Ammianus, in describing the hieroglyphics on the sculptured walls of the Egyptian excavated monuments, observes, "Excisis parietibus volucrum ferarumque genera multa sculpserunt, et animalium species innumeras, quas hieroglyphicas literas appellarunt." (xxii. c.15. p. 339.) + Horapollo, Hierog. ii. 115. But neither the swallow, sparrow, raven, crow, nor upupa, received divine honours among the Egyptians; and though the Moslems distinguish the raven by the name of "Noah's crow," and often consider it wrong to kill it, no peculiar respect appears to have been paid it in ancient times. According to Horapollo *, the Egyptians represented Mars and Venus by two hawks, or by two crows; and the latter were chosen as the emblems of marriage. The same author assigns to the representation of a dead crow the idea of a man who has lived a perfect lifet, and to young crows the signification of a man passing his life in movement and anxiety. Ælian pretends that this bird was sacred to Apollo, two only which belonged to his temple being seen in the vicinity of Coptos. § The naturalist adds, that the Romans employed at the emerald mines observed the same number there also, - a remark which originated in the circumstance of ravens | being almost the only birds seen in that tract; and their habit being to live in pairs. They go a very short distance from their usual haunts; but different valleys are visited by a different couple. Ælian ¶ also states that the sepulchre of a raven was shown in the vicinity of Lake Myris (Moris); * Horapollo, i. 8, 9. and ii. 40. + Horapollo, ii. 89. What he says of its living thirteen years, and the Egyptian year being equal to four years, is obscure. Horapollo, ii. 97. § Elian, vii. 18. He calls them crows, but I believe that both Ælian and Herodotus mean ravens; the Egyptian being the Royston crow, or Corvus cornix. I believe the latter to be sometimes represented in the Egyptian paintings, and even on papyri. Elian, vi. 7. and relates a story of King Marras, who, having employed a raven to carry his letters, buried it there at its death, in token of his esteem for its fidelity. From what he mentions in another place*, it appears that the race of crows and ravens has wofully degenerated, though greatly to the advantage of the modern inhabitants. For those birds, as soon as they saw a boat passing on the river, in a supplicating manner approached, and petitioned for whatever they required: if given, they departed quietly; but if refused, they settled on the prow, and pulling to pieces the ropes, revenged themselves on the offenders. His wellknown story of the Libyan crows dropping pebbles into jars, until the water rose within reach of their bills, is also on a par with the animal sagacity of those times. The swallow often occurs in hieroglyphics, where it sometimes signifies "great," and "valuable;" but it does not occur as an emblem of any Deity, and the only instance of its occurrence in religious subjects is on the boat of Atmoo. † Isis was not worshipped under the form of a swallow, as some have supposed; and if a group, of which this bird forms the principal feature, accompanies her name, it is only in the sense above mentioned; and applied to her in common with other Deities. The swallow is found embalmed in the tombs of Thebes. Another bird, which is generally mistaken for the swallow, and has been conjectured by Champollion to represent a sparrow, is figured in the + Vide Plate 47. suprà, p. 25. Ælian, ii. 48. hieroglyphic legends as the type of an impure or wicked person. I believe it to be the wagtail, or motacilla; and it is worthy of remark that this bird is still called in Egypt "aboo fussád," "the father of corruption," as if in memorial of the hieroglyphical character assigned to it by the ancient Egyptians. It does not appear that the upupa was sacred, and indeed the honour once accorded to it, of giving its head to the sceptres of the Gods, is now taken from it.* Æliant states, that the Egyptians respected this bird and the Vulpanser goose for their love of their young, and the stork for its tenderness to its parents, but there is no reason to believe that any one of these was sacred. FOWLS, PIGEONS, DOVES, QUAILS, OSTRICHES. It is a remarkable fact that though fowls abounded in Egypt, they are never represented in the sculptures. Plutarch tells us they sacrificed white and saffron-coloured cocks to Anubis, but without saying that they were the emblems of any God. Indeed the universal use of fowls as an article of food argues against the probability of their having been sacred; nor are they found embalmed in the tombs. It is not, however, impossible on this account that they might have been emblems, as the goose, though so universally adopted as an article of food, was the symbol of the God Seb; * Vide supra, p. 47. + Elian, Nat. An. x. 16. |