The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-06-29
ga cred Birdss

Extraordinary honors were paid tho
goose in'ancient times; and it Is stlll
held in gtsatsveneration by some of the
Eastern Nations. The figure that oc-
ours so frequently on Buddhist monu-
ments Is tho Brahmaneso goose. The
ancient Britons, according to Caesar,
held 1t impious to eat the flesh of goose.
The ibis was another bird held in the
greatest sanctity by the old Egyptians.
There are still numerous pits contain
Ing ibis mummies In that country. The
largest Of them, q little to the westward
Of the pyramid Of Aboutir, is about
twenty feot deep. The floor of this pit,
for probably depth of many feet, is
covered with heaps on heaps, and lay
ers on layers, of coarse earthen jars,
the lids cemented down, containing
each the body of an ibis, preserved
with bitumen and enclosed In numer-
Gus folds of narrow cloth bandages.
Some Of tho mummies are found in a
state Of great Observation-Disclosures and
charred, and incapable of being taken
whole out Of the bandages, but all the
bones, tho heads, and all tho feathers
entire. Whether these animals were
thus embalmed and brought to this
place Of burial whenever found dead,
or whether collected here only as OBJ
jccts of worship, Is a question Of which
no ancient authority assists in the solu-
tlon. The Mohammedans have great
veneration and esteem for the stork.
1t Is almost as sacred with them as the
Ibis was with the Egyptians; and they
would look upon a person rs prOfane
who should kill, or even harm one.
SO precious were these birds held In
Thessaly, which country they are said
to have cleared of serpents, that the
slayer Of a stork was punished with
death. They were thought much of at
Rome; for whom person, from freak
OF luxury, ordered it to be placed on
his dinner. table, he drew upon himself
the alfeful oblcqny of the whole city.
The 1obin Is considered in several
countries sacred bird; to kill ono is
little less than sacrilege, and its eggs
are free from the hands of the bird
master. 1t Is asserted that the respect
shown to 1t by man is Joined in by the
animals of the wood. The weasel and
the wild cat, it Is said, will nevor mo.
lest 1t when killed. One cause for the
veneration In which it Is held may be
the superstition which represents it rs
the medium through which mankind
are wared Of approaching death. Before
the decease Of a person. a robin Is be-
lteved, in many instances, to tap thrice
ut the window Of the room In which
the sick person is lying. Grimm says
that the peculiar veneration with
which this bird is treated has been
shown by the whole German race from
remote times; and he refers to the
birds color and It's name as evidence
that 1t was sacred to Thor, the god of
lightning. The swallow, too, in Ger
many Is everywhere deemed sacred
bird. Like the stork, 1t preserves the
house on which 1t builds Its nest from
fro and lightning. The Spanish peas
ants have a tradition that it was a swal-
low that tried to pluck the thorns out
Of the crown Of Christ as he hung upon
the cross; hence they have great rev.
ere nee for this bird, and will never de-
stroy 1t. In parts of France the wren
Is sacred bird. TO kill it or rob It's
nest is deemed an atrocity which will
bring down the lightning on the culp-
rlt's dwelling. Such All act was also
regarded with horror In Scotland.
The whydah' bird and tho water
Wagtail are held sacred by the natives
of several parts of Africa. Among the
Mandan Indians the dove Is held so
sacred that neither man, woman, nor
child will injnre it; indeed, the Man.
dan Indians declare that even their
dogs, fcrocious as they are, instinctlve-
ly respect that bird.