It is rather remarkable that in both these cases the word "Crane" is used in connexion with the swallow, or rather the swift, and that in both instances the names of the birds should have been interchanged. If we refer to the original of these

passages, we shall find that the former of them would run thus, "Like a sis or an agur," and the latter thus, "The turtle and the sis and the agur." That in these passages the interpretation of the words sis and agur have been interchanged has already been mentioned, and, as the former has been described under the name of swallow or swift, we shall now treat of the latter under the title of Crane.

The species here mentioned is the common Crane (Grus cinerea), a bird which has a very wide range, and has occasionally made its appearance in one or two parts of Great Britain. In Ireland it is thought to be common, but in that country the word Crane is simply a popular misnomer for the heron. As is the case with many wild birds, especially those of the larger kinds, the Crane appears to have been a much more frequent visitor of our shores than can be the case in the present day, when the land is thickly populated, and not a strange bird can show itself without running the risk of being shot.

As might be imagined, the Cranes favoured the great fendistricts of England, especially those of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, where it used to be found in large flocks. That in those days it bred in England is evident from Acts of Parliament in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., in which reigns the taking of a Crane's egg was punished with a fine of twenty pence, in those days a considerable sum, being nearly four times the average daily wages of a working man. A small flock of Cranes was seen in Zetland in 1807, but at the present time drainage, cultivation, and house-building have as effectually extirpated the gregarious Crane as the solitary bittern.

The Crane performs its annual migrations in company, vast flocks of many thousand individuals passing like great clouds at an immense height, whence their trumpet-like cry is audible for a great distance round, and attracts the ear if not the eye to them. Thus we have at a glance both the characteristics to which reference is made in the Scriptures, namely, the noisy cry and the habit of migration.

It is a very gregarious bird, associating with its comrades in flocks, just as do the starlings and rooks of our own country, and, like these birds, has favourite roosting-places in which it passes the night. When evening approaches, the Cranes may be seen in large flocks passing to their roosting-places, and, on account of their great size, having a very strange effect. A fairsized Crane will measure seven feet across the expanded wings, so that even a solitary bird has a very imposing effect when flying, while that of a large flock of Cranes on the wing is simply magnificent.

The spots which the Crane selects for its roosting-places are generally of the same character. Being in some respects a wary bird, though it is curiously indifferent in others, it will not roost in any place near bushes, rocks, or other spots which might serve to conceal an enemy. The locality most favoured by the Crane is a large, smooth, sloping bank, far from any spot wherein an enemy may be concealed. The birds keep a careful watch during the night, and it is impossible for any foe to approach them without being discovered. The Crane is noisy on the wing, and, whether it be soaring high over head on its long migratory journeys, or be merely flying at dusk to its roosting-place, it continually utters its loud, clangorous cry.

The food of the Crane is much like that of the heron, but in addition to the frogs, fish, worms, and insects, it eats vegetable substances. Sometimes it is apt to get into cultivated grounds, and then does much damage to the crops, pecking up the ground with its long beak, partly for the sake of the worms, grubs, and other creatures, and partly for the sake of the sprouting seeds.

Although by reason of its scarcity the Crane has been abandoned as food, its flesh is really excellent, and in former days was valued very highly, and was looked upon much in the same light as grouse or blackcock by ourselves at the present day. The two facts, that it was once comparatively plentiful and that it was highly valued for the table, are shown by an old record of the banquet following the enthronization of an Archbishop of Canterbury, at which two hundred and four Cranes were served at table. Even in those days the bird was a very valuable one, the average cost exceeding three shillings, so that none but the wealthy could indulge in such a luxury.

Like the egret, the Crane is remarkable for the flowing plumes of the back, which fall over the tail feathers, and form a train. These feathers are much used as plumes, both for purposes of dress and as brushes or flappers wherewith to drive. off the flies. By reason of this conformation, some systematic zoologists have thought that it has some affinity to the ostrich, the rhea, and similar birds, and that the resemblance is strengthened by the structure of the digestive organs, which are suited to vegetable as well as animal substances, the stomach being strong and muscular.

The peculiar voice of the Crane, which it is so fond of using, and to which reference is made in the Scriptures, is caused by a peculiar structure of the windpipe, which is exceedingly long, and, instead of going straight to the lungs, undergoes several convolutions about the breast-bone, and then proceeds to the lungs.

The Crane makes its nest on low ground, generally among osiers or reeds, and it lays only two eggs, pale olive in colour, dashed profusely with black and brown streaks.

THE STORK.

Signification of the Hebrew word Chasidah-Various passages in which it is mentioned-The Chasidah therefore a large, wide-winged, migratory bird-Its identification with the Stork-Derivation of its Hebrew name The Stork always protected-Uses of the tail-Its mode of quartering the ground in search of food-Migratory habits of the Stork-Nesting of the bird, and its favourite localities-The fir-trees of Palestine-Love of the Stork for its young.

IN the Old Testament there are several passages wherein is mentioned the word Chasidah. We will take these passages in their order. In the first place, we find that the Chasidah is enumerated in Lev. xi. 19 among the unclean creatures: And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat." The parallel passage in Deut. xiv. 18 has precisely the same words. Next we have the passage in Job xxxix. 13: Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or the feathers of the chasidah and ostrich ?" (marginal reading) Next we come to Ps. civ. 16, 17: The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted.

"Where the birds make their nests: as for the chasidah, the fir-trees are her house."

Passing to the prophets, we find that Jeremiah uses the same word (viii. 7): "Yea, the chasidah in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord."

The last mention of the word occurs in Zech. v. 9: "Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; (for they had wings like the wings of a chasidah ;) and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven."

We learn from these passages that, in the first place, the Chasidah was certainly a bird, as it is mentioned in connexion with other birds, and is said to have wings and feathers. Our next business is to find out what particular bird is meant by the Chasidah. It is evident from the passage in Jeremiah that it is a migratory bird; from that in the Psalms, that it builds its nest upon a fir-tree; and from those in Job and Zechariah, that it is a large-winged bird. These details very much narrow the question, which is still further limited by the fact that we have already identified the crane and the heron.

The Authorized Version invariably renders the word Chasidah as "Stork," and is undoubtedly right; though the Septuagint has no less than four different translations, reading it as “heron” in one place," pelican" in another, " hoopoe " in another, and in the fourth instance leaving the word untranslated, but Græcized into the form of asida. It would have been better if the last-mentioned plan had been followed throughout.

There is, however, no doubt that the Authorized Version is perfectly correct; and it is followed by the Jewish Bible, in which no mark of doubt is affixed to the word.

In Buxtorf's Lexicon there is a curious derivation of the word. He says that the word Chasidah is derived from chesed, a word that signifies benevolence. This word is used in many familiar passages; such as, " unworthy of all the benefits," "according to the multitude of Thy mercies," "exercising pity," and so forth.

According to some writers, the name was given to the Stork because it was supposed to be a bird remarkable for its filial piety; "for the storks in their turn support their parents in their old age: they allow them to rest their necks on their bodies during migration, and, if the elders are tired, the young ones take them on their backs." According to others, the name is given to the Stork because it exercises kindness towards its companions in bringing them food; but in all cases the derivation of the word is acknowledged to be the same.

Partly in consequence of this idea, which is a very old and