swift arrow against the bird--struck it, and it whirled round
and fell close to the ship. And to them spake Amphidamas, son of Aleus:

"The island of Ares is near us; you know it yourselves now that ye have
seen these birds. But little will arrows avail us, I trow, for landing.
But let us contrive some other device to help us, if ye intend to land,
bearing in mind the injunction of Phineus. For not even could Heracles,
when he came to Arcadia, drive away with bow and arrow the birds that
swam on the Stymphalian lake. I saw it myself. But he shook in his hand
a rattle of bronze and made a loud clatter as he stood upon a lofty
peak; and the birds fled far off, screeching in bewildered fear.
Wherefore now too let us contrive some such device, and I myself will
speak, having pondered the matter beforehand. Set on your heads your
helmets of lofty crest, then half row by turns, and half fence the ship
about with polished spears and shields. Then all together raise a mighty
shout so that the birds may be scared by the unwonted din, the nodding
crests, and the uplifted spears on high. And if we reach the island
itself, then make mighty noise with the clashing of shields."

Thus he spake, and the helpful device pleased all. And on their heads
they placed helmets of bronze, gleaming terribly, and the blood-red
crests were tossing. And half of them rowed in turn, and the rest
covered the ship with spears and shields. And as when a man roofs over a
house with tiles, to be an ornament of his home and a defence against
rain, and one tile fits firmly into another, each after each; so they
roofed over the ship with their shields, locking them together. And as a
din arises from a warrior-host of men sweeping on, when lines of battle
meet, such a shout rose upward from the ship into the air. Now they saw
none of the birds yet, but when they touched the island and clashed upon
their shields, then the birds in countless numbers rose in flight hither
and thither. And as when the son of Cronos sends from the clouds a dense
hail storm on city and houses, and the people who dwell beneath hear the
din above the roof and sit quietly, since the stormy season has not come
upon them unawares, but they have first made strong their roofs; so the
birds sent against the heroes a thick shower of feather-shafts as they
darted over the sea to the mountains of the land opposite.

What then was the purpose of Phineus in bidding the divine band of
heroes l