It was objected by Michaelis that the chasidah of the Hebrews could not be the stork, because the latter bird does not usually roost on trees; and yet it is asserted in the hundred-and-fourth Psalm, that the fir-trees are a dwelling for the stork. But Doubdan, who had no hypothesis to maintain, relates that he saw storks resting on trees between Cana and Nazareth; and Dr. Shaw says expressly, the storks breed plentifully in Barbary; and that the fir-trees, and other trees when these are wanting, are a "dwelling for the stork." It is therefore probable that this bird conforms its manners to circumstances; that wherever it obtains rest, security, and accommodation, there it resides, whether in a ruin or a forest. So that on the whole we need not hesitate, merely because the European stork seldom inhabits trees, to admit that it is the chasidah of the Sacred Scriptures.
We purposely abstain from the description of such birds as are common to Palestine and to the climates of Europe. The ostrich, no doubt, is peculiar to the deserts of Syria and of Arabia, and might therefore demand a more minute delineation than is consistent with our limits. Suffice it to mention, that it is one of the largest and most remarkable of the feathered tribes, and has been celebrated from the most remote antiquity by many fabulous writers, who ascribe to it qualities more wonderful than even those which it actually possesses. Its height is estimated at seven or eight feet, and in swiftness it surpasses every other animal.
That it is gregarious no naturalist any longer doubts, being generally seen in large troops at a great distance from the habitations of man. The egg is about three pounds in weight, and in the warmer countries of the East is usually hatched by the rays of the sun alone; though in less heated regions the bird is observed to practise incubation.
The same remarks might be applied to the pelican, whose solitary life as an inhabitant of the desert is occasionally referred to in the Sacred Writings. It appears, however, that this bird is migratory, whence we may conclude that it is also gregarious, and does not always remain alone. In their motion through the air, the pelicans imitate the procedure of the wild-goose, and form their van into an acute angle. When of full age, the male is superior in size to the swan, weighs twenty-five pounds, and from wing to wing extends not less than fifteen feet. The upper mandible is flat and broad, and hooked at the end; the lower mandible has appended to it a very dilatable bag, reaching eight or nine inches down the neck, and large enough to contain several quarts of water. Its food is fish; in diving for which it sometimes descends from a great height. When it has filled its pouch, it flies to some convenient point of a rock, where it swallows its prey at leisure. The vulgar notion that the female pelican feeds her young with blood from her breast, has arisen from the use of the bag just described, which she opens from time to time to discharge a supply of fish or water for their nourishment.
SECTION V.—AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES.
In the book of Deuteronomy there is an allusion made to a destructive creature in the following terms:—"Their wine is the poison of dragons and the cruel venom of asps." It is thought that the gecko is the animal contemplated in this description, it being acknowledged by all naturalists to contain a mortal poison. Nature, in this instance, says Buffon, appears to act against herself: in a lizard, whose species is but too prolific, she exalts a corrosive liquid to such a degree as to carry death and dissolution into all living substances which it may happen to penetrate. This deadly reptile has some resemblance to the chameleon; his head, almost triangular, is big in proportion to his body; the eyes are very large, the tongue is flat, covered with small scales, and the end is rounded; the teeth are sharp, and so strong that, according to Bontius, they are able to make an impression even on steel. The gecko is almost entirely covered with large warts, more or less rising; the under part of the thigh is furnished with a row of tubercles raised and grooved. The feet are remarkable for oval scales, more or less hollowed in the middle, as large as the under surface of the toes themselves, and regularly disposed over one another, like slates on a roof. The usual colour of this animal is a clear green, spotted with brilliant red. It inhabits the crevices of half-rotten trees as well as humid places; it is sometimes met with in houses, where it occasions great alarm, and where every exertion is made to destroy it speedily. Bontius writes, that the bite is so venomous that, if the part bitten be not cut away or burned, death ensues in a few hours.
Calmet enumerates eleven kinds of serpents as known to the Hebrews, the names of which are as follow:—
1. Ephe, the viper.
2. Chephir, a sort of aspic.
3. Acshub, the aspic.
4. Pethen, a similar reptile.
5. Tzeboa, speckled serpent.
6. Tzimmaon.
7. Tzepho, or Tzephoni, a basilisk.
8. Kippos, the acontias.
9. Shephiphon, the cerastes.
10. Shachal, the black serpent.
11. Saraph, a flying-serpent.
The first of these is remarkable for its quick and penetrating poison; it is about two feet long, and as thick as a man's arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and brown, and sprinkled over with blackish specks, similar to those of the horn-nosed snake. It has a wide mouth, by which it inhales a great quantity of air, and, when fully inflated, ejects it with such violence as to be heard at a considerable distance.
The shachal, or black serpent, is described by Forskall as being wholly of that colour, a cubit in length, and as thick as a finger. Its bite is not incurable, but the wound swells severely; the application of a ligature prevents the venom from spreading; or certain plants, as the caper, may be employed to relieve it. Mr. Jackson describes a black serpent of much more terrific powers. It is about seven or eight feet long, with a small head, which, when about to assail any object, it frequently expands to four times its ordinary size. It is the only one that will attack travellers; in doing which it coils itself up, and darts to a great distance by the elasticity of its body and tail. The wound inflicted by the bite is small, but the surrounding part immediately turns black, which colour soon pervades the whole body, and the sufferer expires.