oung ones, which
instantly brings them to life." To the same effect write Eustathius,
Isidorus, Epiphanius, and a host of other writers.[298]

[297] Mr. Harting, in his "Ornithology of Shakespeare," quotes
an interesting correspondence from "Land and Water" (1869), on
the subject.

[298] See Sir Thomas Browne's Works, 1852, vol. ii. pp. 1-4.

According to another idea[299] pelicans are hatched dead, but the cock
pelican then wounds his breast, and lets one drop of blood fall upon
each, and this quickens them.

[299] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. iii. pp. 366, 367.

_Pheasant._ This bird is only once alluded to, in "Winter's Tale" (iv.
4), where the Clown jokingly says to the Shepherd, "Advocate's the
court-word for a pheasant; say, you have none."

_Phoenix._ Many allusions are made to this fabulous bird, which is said
to rise again from its own ashes. Thus, in "Henry VIII." (v. 4), Cranmer
tells how

"when
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new create another heir,
As great in admiration as herself."

Again, in "3 Henry VI." (i. 4), the Duke of York exclaims:

"My ashes, as the phoenix, may bring forth
A bird that will revenge upon you all."

Once more, in "1 Henry VI." (iv. 7), Sir William Lucy, speaking of
Talbot and those slain with him, predicts that

"from their ashes shall be rear'd
A phoenix that shall make all France afeard."[300]

[300] Cf. "The Tempest," iii. 3; "All's Well that Ends Well,"
i. 1; "Antony and Cleopatra," iii. 2; "Cymbeline," i. 6.

Sir Thomas Browne[301] tells us that there is but one phoenix in the
world, "which after many hundred years burns herself, and from the ashes
thereof ariseth up another." From the very earliest times there have
been countless traditions respecting this wonderful bird. Thus, its
longevity has been estimated from three hundred to fifteen hundred
years; and among the various localities assigned as its home are
Ethiopia, Arabia, Egypt, and India. In "The Phoenix and Turtle," it is
said,

"Let the bird of loudest lay
On the sole Arabian tree,
Herald sad and trumpet be."

[301] Works, 1852, vol. i. pp. 277-284.

Pliny says of this bird, "Howbeit, I cannot tell what to make of him;
and first of all, whether it be a tale or no, that there is never but
one of them in the whole world, and the same not commonl