Birds

"Did ever raven sing so like a lark, That gives sweet tidings of the sun's uprise?"

"O, it comes o'er my memory, As doth the raven o'er the infected house, Boding to all."

"The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements."

"The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge."

"And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming Of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamplight o'er him streaming Throws his shadow on the floor, And my soul from out that shadow, That lies floating on the floor, Shall be lifted—nevermore."

"Ghastly, grim, and ancient Raven, wandering from the Nightly shore,— Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore! Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!""

"The raven once in snowy plumes was drest, White as the whitest dove's unsullied breast, Fair as the guardian of the Capitol, Soft as the swan; a large and lovely fowl His tongue, his prating tongue had changed him quite To sooty blackness from the purest white."

"The Raven's house is built with reeds,— Sing woe, and alas is me! And the Raven's couch is spread with weeds, High on the hollow tree; And the Raven himself, telling his beads In penance for his past misdeeds, Upon the top I see."

"Kahgahgee, the King of Ravens, Gathered all his black marauders, Crows and blackbirds, jays and ravens, Clamorous on the dusky tree-tops."

"Despite all the caveats about the particular corvid or crow-like bird that may be called a "raven" (two species in North America, one in Europe, four in Africa, and three in Australia), in the public consciousness of Europe and America and in most of the extensive literature, raven refers to one species only: '. It is this species that is the primary object of comment and observations in folklore ... The raven, C. corax, occupies an extraordinary geographical and ecological range. It is circumpolar, found even above the and all the way south to the mountains of ."

"That Raven on yon left-hand oak (Curse on his ill-betiding croak) Bodes me no good."

"Raven, raven, your eggs are shining bright! Raven bird, your eggs are shining bright! Where do people carry off your holy eggs?"

"In the centre of this grove there stood an , which, though shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out into a large excrescence about the middle of the stem. On this a pair of ravens had fixed their residence for such a series of years, that the oak was distinguished by the title of the Raven Tree. Many were the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at this eyre: the difficulty whetted their inclinations, and each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous task. But when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, and acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. So the ravens built on, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal day arrived in which the wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of February, when those birds usually sit. The saw was applied to the but, the wedges were inserted into the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle, or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall; but still the dam sat on. At last, when it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest; and, though her parental affection deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which brought her dead to the ground."

"See how that pair of billing doves With open murmurs own their loves And, heedless of censorious eyes, Pursue their unpolluted joys: No fears of future want molest The downy quiet of their nest."

"We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves."

"Listen, sweet Dove, unto my song, And spread thy golden wings in me; Hatching my tender heart so long, Till it get wing, and flie away with Thee."

"When you prepare your breakfast, think upon others Do not forget to feed the pigeons."

"'Tis a bird I love, with its brooding note, And the trembling throb in its mottled throat; There's a human look in its swelling breast, And the gentle curve of its lowly crest; And I often stop with the fear I feel— He runs so close to the rapid wheel."

"The wood pigeon's voice is the glory of the garden."

"This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons pease."

"Thou pigeon-egg of discretion."

"With his mouth full of news Which he will put on us, as pigeons feed their young."

"Wood-pigeons cooed there, stock-doves nestled there; My trees were full of songs and flowers and fruit, Their branches spread a city to the air."

"Since balloons could not be flown back into Paris due to their erratic and uncontrollable flight patterns, the only means of getting information... was the carrier pigeon. Pigeons had been used to convey messages since antiquity, and a pigeon post... operated as late as 1850 by Paul Julius Reuter... proved... swifter than the railway in carrying stock prices between Brussels and . The carrier pigeons used in the Siege of Paris were able to carry much more information thanks to... microphotography invented by . In 1859 Dragon had received a patent for microfilm, and over the next decade he produced... photographs shrunk to fit inside jewels, signet rings [etc.]... He also developed... a profitable sideline in pornography... enjoyed with the aid of a special magnifying viewer. During the siege, Dagron turned.. to more patriotic endeavors. ...photographing government dispatches, shrinking them.., printing them on lightweight membranes.., and fitting as many as 40,000... into a canister strapped to the legs of a single carrier pigeon. The pigeons... encountering on their return to Paris... falcons specially trained by the Prussians. ...[T]he pigeons also carried personal communications."

"I heard a Stock-dove sing or say His homely tale, this very day; His voice was buried among trees, Yet to be come at by the breeze: He did not cease; but cooed—and cooed; And somewhat pensively he wooed: He sang of love, with quiet blending, Slow to begin, and never ending; Of serious faith, and inward glee; That was the song,—the song for me!"

"And oft I heard the tender dove In firry woodlands making moan."

"Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."

"Ut solet accipiter trepidas agitare columbas."

"So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows."

"The dove and very blessed spirit of peace."

"Anon, as patient as the female dove, When that her golden couplets are disclosed, His silence will sit drooping."

"Not half so swift the trembling doves can fly, When the fierce eagle cleaves the liquid sky; Not half so swiftly the fierce eagle moves, When thro' the clouds he drives the trembling doves."

"The Dove, On silver pinions, winged her peaceful way."

"By them there sat the loving pelican, Whose young ones, poison'd by the serpent's sting, With her own blood to life again doth bring."

"What, wouldst thou have me turn pelican, and feed thee out of my own vitals?"

"The nursery of brooding Pelicans, The dormitory of their dead, had vanish'd, And all the minor spots of rock and verdure, The abodes of happy millions, were no more."

"Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey, Alive and wriggling in the elastic net, Which Nature hung beneath their grasping beaks; Till, swoln with captures, the unwieldy burden Clogg'd their slow flight, as heavily to land, These mighty hunters of the deep return'd. There on the cragged cliffs they perch'd at ease, Gorging their hapless victims one by one; Then full and weary, side by side, they slept, Till evening roused them to the chase again."

"Nature's prime favourites were the Pelicans; High-fed, long-lived, and sociable and free."

"A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill will hold more than his belican, He can take in his beak Enough food for a week But I'm damned if I see how the helican!"

"Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine,"

"Nance, delighting in her pelican, erected a lapis lazuli shrine, and set the holy pelican by her feet."

"The pelican came forth from the holy reed-beds. It came forth from the holy reed-beds. The wise pelican spent the day high in the skies. The pelican cried out in the sky: its singing was sweet and its voice was pleasing."

"And there they placed a peacock in his pride, Before the damsel."

"Why, he stalks up and down like a peacock,—a stride and a stand."

"Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while And like a peacock sweep along his tail."

""Fly pride," says the peacock."

"To Paradise, the Arabs say, Satan could never find the way Until the peacock led him in."

"To frame the little animal, provide All the gay hues that wait on female pride: Let Nature guide thee; sometimes golden wire The shining bellies of the fly require; The peacock's plumes thy tackle must not fail, Nor the dear purchase of the sable's tail."

"For everything seemed resting on his nod, As they could read in all eyes. Now to them, Who were accustomed, as a sort of god, To see the sultan, rich in many a gem, Like an imperial peacock stalk abroad (That royal bird, whose tail's a diadem,) With all the pomp of power, it was a doubt How power could condescend to do without."

""The peacock is a native to India, which seems to be the source of most peacock motifs [….] The name mayura may have some connection with magyar, which is the self-name of the Hungarians [….] Some Indian song was the likely common origin of both folksong 95 and folksong D because of the Hindu mythological elements found in the latter two. In particular, a possible origin may be the Vedic hymn of the Vena bird (Rig Veda book 10, hymn 123) [….] Uralic linguistics identified a set of words that reflect borrowings [….] The people who brought these words with them and merged with the Proto-Hungarians at some point in history also may have brought with them the peacock motifs and part of the Rig Vedic oral tradition"."