When great Augustus made war's tempest cease,
His halcyon days brought forth the arts of peace.
Dryden.
The halcyon built her nest on the rocks adjacent to the brink of the ocean, or, as some maintain, on the surface of the sea itself:
Alcyone compress'd
Seven days sits brooding on her wat'ry nest,
A wintry queen; her sire at length is kind,
Calms every storm, and hushes every wind.
Ovid, by Dryden.
It is also said, that during the period of her incubation, she herself had absolute sway over the seas and the winds: