Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/413

Rh and Vòrontìanòmby, "Bird-loved-by-oxen". Their pure white plumage is referred to in one of the proverbs: "Clean clothing, like the white-egret, but he gets his living by picking up scraps." Its mounting on the back of the oxen is referred to in another proverb: "Don't seek to be 'number one', like an egret." And again, its sharp-eyed vigilance is noted in another, which says: "An egret perched on a crooked branch: I spy him, but he keeps his eye on me."

Another heron, known as Fòtsialatra, i.e., "White-wings", is also known by the queer name of Fangàlamòtivoày, which may be translated "Crocodile's-eye-cleaner"; so that it probably does the same kind offices for the crocodiles that the white egret does for the oxen.

The family of the Storks contains in Madagascar three species, one of them peculiar to the island. The most well-known bird of this family is the Tàkatra, or Tufted Umber, a brown stork, frequently seen in the marshes and rice-fields. This bird builds an extraordinarily large nest, often visible at a considerable distance, and is placed either on the fork of a large tree, or on the very edge of over-hanging rocks, and is from four-and-a-half to six feet in diameter. Probably from this conspicuous nest, as well as from the grave and sedate way in which the Tàkatra marches about seeking for its food, many native superstitions have gathered about this bird, one of which is, that those who destroy its nest will become lepers. And while the Hova and central tribes were still idolaters, it was believed that it was very unlucky should a Tàkatra fly across the path along which the idols were being carried; in such case they were immediately taken back to their dwelling-house. Another belief is that, if the Tàkatra takes the hair of any person from whose head it has just been cut, and uses it as material in building its nest, such person becomes at once bald.

A considerable number of Malagasy proverbs refer to this bird, some of which may be here translated. Thus,