Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/225



most of the ancient star maps, the Crow is generally depicted as perched on the coils of the great water snake Hydra, and apparently "pecking at him," as the poet puts it.

The ancient Akkadians, according to some authorities, seem to have regarded this constellation as representing a horse, but nearly all the other ancient nations saw in this group of stars a bird.

With the Chinese it was "the Red Bird," the last constellation in their zodiac. The Romans and Hebrews called this constellation "the Raven," the name it was known by in Chaucer's time, and Brown tells us that in the valley of the Euphrates there was a connection between Tiamat, the Serpent of Night, and the Demon Ravens. It was known there as "the Great Storm Bird," "the Bird of the Desert," "the Bird of the Great Seed," and "Storm Wind."

It is said that the crow was once of the purest white, but was changed to his present sable hue for talebearing.

Thus is the fact immortalised in verse:

According to the Greek fable, the crow was made a