rds in
various stages of development. No doubt he was deceived by some purely
superficial resemblances--for example, the feet of the barnacle fish
resemble somewhat the feathers of a bird. He gives an imaginative
illustration of the barnacle fowl escaping from its shell, which is
reproduced in fig. 12.

Turning now from superstitions concerning actual birds to legends of
those that are purely mythical, passing reference must be made to the
_roc_, a bird existing in Arabian legend, which we meet in the _Arabian
Nights_, and which is chiefly remarkable for its size and strength.

The _phoenix_, perhaps, is of more interest. Of "that famous bird of
Arabia," PLINY writes as follows, prefixing his description of it with
the cautious remark, "I am not quite sure that its existence is not all
a fable." "It is said that there is only one in existence in the whole
world, and that that one has not been seen very often. We are told that
this bird is of the size of an eagle, and has a brilliant golden plumage
around the neck, while the rest of the body is of a purple colour;
except the tail, which is azure, with long feathers intermingled of a
roseate hue; the throat is adorned with a crest, and the head with a
tuft of feathers. The first Roman who described this bird... was the
senator Manilius.... He tells us that no person has ever seen this bird
eat, that in Arabia it is looked upon as sacred to the sun, that it
lives five hundred and forty years, that when it becomes old it builds a
nest of cassia and sprigs of incense, which it fills with perfumes, and
then lays its body down upon them to die; that from its bones and marrow
there springs at first a sort of small worm, which in time changes
into a little bird; that the first thing that it does is to perform the
obsequies of its predecessor, and to carry the nest entire to the city
of the Sun near Panchaia, and there deposit it upon the altar of that
divinity.

"The same Manilius states also, that the revolution of the great year
is completed with the life of this bird, and that then a new cycle comes
round again with the same characteristics as the former one, in the
seasons and the appearance of the stars. ... This bird was brought to
Rome in the censorship of the Emperor Claudius... and was exposed to
public view.... This fact is attested by the public Annals, but there is
no one that doubts that it was a fictitious phoenix only."(1)

(1) PLINY: _Natural History_, bk.