Figures Of Birds Research Articles

“Colombes et Menfenil” in Text and Image: Taking Flight From Conquest in Aimé Césaire and Wifredo Lam’s Collaborative Aesthetics

This essay examines a little-studied aesthetic collaboration between Aimé Césaire and Wifredo Lam to depict doves and a bird of prey (called “menfenil”) in text and image. “Colombes et menfenil” was the title of a selection of poems by Césaire that was published in Hémisphères magazine in 1944 with an illustration by Wifredo Lam. Both birds also appear in Césaire’s Cahier d’un retour au pays natal and Lam’s illustrations of the Spanish translation of this poem published in Cuba the previous year. They go on to recur in later paintings by Lam: “Menfenil” (1947), “Lunguanda yembe” (1950), and “La colombe noire” (1959). The birds in question have archetypical significance as symbols of peace and war that connect to the history of colonialism. I propose with this essay a critical dialogue with Césaire and Lam’s work on these birds to diffuse the conquest-thinking that informs the symbolic economy and contributes to normalizing the persistence of racialized hierarchies embedded in the history of colonial dispossession and exploitation. In their collaborative aesthetic recasting of these archetypal bird figures, I argue that both poet and painter symbolically take them over to take flight from conquest.

IRANIAN MYTH ABOUT THE ROYAL AUTHORITY AND THE PECTORAL FROM TOVSTA MOGYLA

The article is devoted to the analysis of images on a gold pectoral from the Tovsta Mogyla of the middle of the 4th century BC. The product has a well-thought-out structure (fig. 1). The main friezes are the internal and external ones. The central axis on which the most important scenes are located is highlighted. The arrangement of the scenes inside the friezes is subject to pendulum symmetry (fig. 2). The main theme of the external frieze is the death. The central scene embodies the triumph of death, but with each next scene it recedes, and in scenes with a hare and grasshoppers one can watch the transition of the theme to its opposite. The main theme of the internal frieze is life. The development of life is shown through the growth of cubs from the moment of birth to the beginning of adult life. Figures of birds on the frieze edges indicate a change in theme. The story of man, which also has its development, is interwoven into the internal frieze. Its beginning is in the central scene where two men create the clothes from sheep’s clothing. Such clothes in Iranian mythology symbolized the royal khwarrah. It can be assumed that the central characters are the gods who create the royal khwarrah and the happy fate of the future ruler. Such gods could be the Iranian Verethragna and Mithra, corresponding to the Scythian «Ares» and Oitosyros. In the three scenes of the upper frieze the myth about royal power is enclosed. Its main motives are following: predetermining the birth of the king and his happy fate, birth, raising by shepherds, being at the headquarters of the ruler after reaching adulthood and gaining royal power. The appearance of this mythology in the Iranian environment is probably associated with the accession of Cyrus the Great and the Achaemenid dynasty. In the Scythian environment it was called upon to legitimize the power of the ruler-owner of the pectoral. Apparently the myth was a reference to the legendary times of Kolaxais, the ancestor of the Paralates, Scythian warriors and kings. In such a situation the pectoral was conceived as one of the visible incarnations of the royal family khwarrah, telling by means of iconography about its origin.

Identifying the bird figures of the Nasca pampas: An ornithological perspective

The lines and geoglyphs of Nasca are a series of drawings etched into the surface of the so-called Pampas of Southern Peru. Of these geoglyphs, there are 16 that depict birds. The bird geoglyphs mainly created during the Late Paracas and the Nasca Period (c. 2400 to 1300 years ago) and account for the largest number of geoglyphs in the Nasca pampas that depict plants and animals. Bird geoglyphs are identified using general impressions or a few notable morphological traits. However, little consideration has been given to whether bird geoglyphs contain traits similar to those of other taxa or if the traits depicted by each figure match the taxon to which they have been attributed. In this study, we identified the Nasca bird geoglyphs from an ornithological perspective. In doing so, we revealed several discrepancies between their geoglyphic characteristics and those of the taxonomic groups to which they were attributed by previous research. In addition, we determined that some of the geoglyphs depicted a number of specific birds, including hermit, pelicans, and what is most likely an immature parrot. Each of these birds is regionally exotic. For instance, hermits and parrots are found in tropical rain forests whereas pelicans live in coastal areas. The reason exotic birds were depicted in the geoglyphs instead of indigenous birds is closely related to the purpose of the etching process. Further studies involving bird figures depicted on pottery and sacrificed bird remains would be useful when attempting to identify the geoglyphic birds further.

A review of the status of the fauna of selected protected areas in the major vegetation zones of Ghana

The fauna in four major vegetation types, namely, rainforest, semi-deciduous forest, inland savanna and coastal scrub and grassland, was examined with the main objective of providing a general description of the fauna and highlighting the species that are threatened or of special conservation concern, nationally and globally. The fauna examined were mammals (large and small), birds and reptiles. The sources of information include the Internet, books, journals and faunal survey reports on various forest reserves and protected areas in Ghana. The threat to fauna appears to be highest in the rainforest and the semi-deciduous forest. For mammals, 41.8 and 28 per cent are threatened in the rainforest and semi-deciduous forest, respectively. The comparable figures for birds are 4.5 and 3.1 per cent. The most endangered (critically endangered) mammal species in Ghana is the Miss Waldron’s red colobus monkey (Procolobus badius); current thinking is that it has gone extinct. Six species of mammals are endangered (IUCN) in the semi-deciduous forest, two in the rainforest and four in the inland savanna; no endangered species has been recorded in the coastal scrub and grassland. The main causes of threat to fauna in forest reserves are habitat degradation and fragmentation, to which mining activities have been contributing in recent times.

Text, Image, Interpretation: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature and its Insular Context in Honour of Éamonn Ó Carragáin (review)

Reviewed by: Text, Image, Interpretation: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature and its Insular Context in Honour of Éamonn Ó Carragáin Pamela O'Neill Minnis, Alastair and Jane Roberts, eds, Text, Image, Interpretation: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature and its Insular Context in Honour of Éamonn Ó Carragáin (Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 18), Turnhout, Brepols, 2007; hardback; pp. xxiv, 576; R.R.P. €110.00; ISBN 9782503518190. Éamonn Ó Carragáin is a giant in early medieval scholarship and a kind and generous scholar, particularly noted for his insightful work on the Ruthwell Cross. This volume shows clearly the esteem in which he is held by colleagues and students alike, with papers referring respectfully, playfully or gratefully to his scholarship, leadership and friendship. The book begins with a foreword by Mary Clayton, who sums up Ó Carragáin perfectly when she recalls him singing Beowulf to the Irish tune Sliabh na mBan to the class of which she was part. It ends with a bibliography of Ó Carragáin's works compiled by his [End Page 233] archaeologist son and University College Cork colleague, Tomás Ó Carragáin, showing that Éamonn Ó Carragáin's contributions to medieval studies take many forms. The book contains 26 outstanding contributions from well-known medieval scholars in fields as diverse as art history, archaeology, Old English and Old Norse. One can imagine Ó Carragáin's delight at Andy Orchard's delicious title 'Intoxication, Fornication, and Multiplication: The Burgeoning Text of Genesis A', and Michael Ryan's dedication 'To Éamonn in memory of many al fresco celebrations in Rome and Venice'. However, these are just finishing touches to the mass of thorough and insightful scholarship presented in the book, which must surely delight Ó Carragáin even more. There is far too much in this book for a review like this to do it justice, so a few comments on the highlights for this reviewer will have to suffice. The first section, 'Looking Outwards', contains papers dealing with comparisons and relationships in literature, church dedications and material culture. Alan Thacker's article on martyr cults and their physical manifestations within and outside the walls of Rome traces the changing attitudes which made it possible for relics of martyrs, originally confined to extramural sites in accordance with pagan tradition, to move within the city walls. It shows an impressive familiarity with textual and archaeological evidence and a willingness to challenge paradigms. Michelle P. Brown reviews the Barberini Gospels with characteristic competence, concluding that a blend of local and international tastes contributed to their decoration. Interestingly, she argues for an 'ultimately Northumbrian background' for the work of one scribe, but evinces parallels in Southumbrian work such as the Gandersheim Casket, Ormside Bowl and sculpture from central Mercia. Anna Maria Luiselli Fadda examines Anglo-Saxon and Irish depictions of the moment of resurrection, giving a fascinating account of the use of bird figures as visual representations of the soul, revealing some refreshingly close examination of sculpture and drawing in comparisons from as far afield as Egypt. The Alfred Jewel and the Fuller Brooch are examined by Charles D. Wright, who finds that the personification of sight is represented holding flowers. He draws on the evidence of a botanical expert to establish that the flowers are very accurately depicted. Elizabeth Coatsworth contributes a survey of embroidered inscriptions, bringing a neglected topic to the fore. She notes the apparently small milieu in which these items were manufactured, and that they were predominantly associated with female commissioners. The second section, 'Reading Texts', unsurprisingly contains several [End Page 234] articles concerning The Dream of the Rood and the Vercelli Book in which it is located. It also contains an impressive reading by Hugh Magennis of The Seafarer, in which he points out the unusually individualistic focus of the poem, arguing a Christian purpose for this feature. Jane Roberts discusses Beowulf with particular reference to the representation of the humiliation of Hrothgar, in an argument hinging on the interpretation of a pronoun – a not uncommon problem in early medieval studies. A study of Húsdrápa by Richard North gives an interesting account of the fragments of a poem describing the carvings in a house, extrapolating...

Identification of bird representations in prehistory

Figures of birds and bird heads are frequently represented in the Bronze and Iron Age in Europe. Birds are usually represented as amulets, vases and parts of vases, parts of complex objects or compositions and are among the most wide spread symbols that are connected with cult, magic and mythology of that time. There has been much discussion on this topic up to now. There are many assumptions concerning the role of different bird representations in the spiritual life of man of that period, which are still not firmly based. Our goal, in the study of this topic, is not to talk about these assumptions, more or less acceptable, but to pay more attention to the creation of bird figures and heads and to conclude to what extent it is possible to identify ornithological, among these numerous representations, individual birds, characteristics of their morphology and way of life. Namely, if the premise is correct, that the users of these ornithomorphic objects as well as their craftsmen, were able to differentiate bird types, morphologically and bionomically, or more correctly taxonomic groups of bird types (families, subfamilies, tribes genuses), to the extent to which these differences are expressed lexicological (nomenclatorilly), in the majority of classical languages then the attempt to make a further step towards the ornithological identification of motifs of these objects can be considered possible. In cases when it seems that the details on an object and their combination can be used for a more convincing identification, we take the freedom to speculate about the cultural-economic value of the recognized birds. Here we deal with three examples of bird representations from the Bronze and Iron Age of the Central Balkans. These are: the Dupljaja Cart, the Posamenterie Fibula from Dobrinci and the Bronze Cart from Glasinac, with the help of which we will try to demonstrate this new type of collaboration between archaeology and ornithology. We hope that this new approach will show all its usefulness in the future. Sometimes, a view "from another angle", on some archaeological problems may provide valuable results, not only in identification of bird representations, but also as a means of understanding the wider cultural or social-economic significance of the prehistoric period in question.

Using tangrams to teach geometry to young children

Unlike a jigsaw puzzle where a piece must fit in only one way to complete a picture, the seven pieces of a geometric tangram can be arranged in many different ways to make figures of birds, animals, people, and objects. This article presents a Tangram Teaching Guide to provide a five-step developmental sequence for teaching tangramming to young children. Teaching resources are included, and a checklist provides a summary outline of the teaching sequence. Tangram experiences help children develop positive attitudes toward geometry, further their shape identification and classification skills, and foster and understanding of basic geometric concepts and relationships.

Orientation discrimination and categorization of photographs of natural objects by pigeons

In Experiment 1, pigeons trained to discriminate rightside-up and upside-down orientations of slides of natural scenes with humans successfully transferred to new slides of the same kind. Experiment 2 revealed that both the orientations of the human figures and of the background scenes controlled the discrimination. When they were oppositely oriented, the background orientation cue was dominant. In Experiment 3 slides showing objects on a white background were presented either rightside up or upside down, with each slide presented in one orientation only. One group of pigeons learned to classify the slides according to their orientations. The other group learned to classify the slides according to arbitrary groupings. When the slides were shown rotated by 180 degrees, the latter group continued to discriminate the individual slides (i.e., the pigeons showed orientation invariance). The former group classified the rotated slides according to their orientations (i.e., orientation discrimination). In Experiment 4, pigeons learned the orientation discrimination with separate sets of human and bird figures. Partial reversal training in one object class transferred to the rest of stimuli in this object class but did not to the other object class. These results suggest that pigeons can learn to discriminate photographs on the basis of orientation but that orientation-based equivalence relationship is not formed between object classes.

The Conquered Women of Cacaxtla

AbstractThe vividly painted “Battle Mural” of Cacaxtla (Tlaxcala, Mexico) depicts the gory results of a battle between racially distinct factions, characterized by their opposing jaguar and bird insignia. The two central Bird figures that remain standing are shown as captives, and in both cases they are attired in elaborate costumes that include diagnostic items of female clothing, including thequechquemitlcape and long skirt. Other figures are nude or are shown in simple male costumes, including themaxtlatlloincloth. This paper considers arguments of whether the two central figures were biological females, or rather, that the presence of female apparel on male actors was used within a context of conquest, symbolically transmitted through a gender ideology of male dominance and female subordination. While the evidence is inconclusive, we employ a contextual analysis of pre-Columbian pictorial manuscripts and Mexican cosmology to argue that these individuals were female. Furthermore, we suggest that the elaborate costume elements associated with these female figures, and their recurrence with the Jaguar Lord 3 Deer Antler “Tlaloc mask,” indicates that this was a noblewoman destined for marriage as a means of binding the Jaguar and Bird dynasties. Thus the Battle Mural depicts the capture of the “founding queen,” with the subsequent union demonstrated by the complementary depictions of Jaguar and Bird lords on Building A.

Change of Colour in Captive Birds

MR. HAROLD MILLAR invites notes on this subject (NATURE, February 5, p. 600). The case of the crossbill (Loxia curvirostra, Linn.) seems in point. My attention was directed to it some years ago, when I saw a number of crossbills—six or eight, if I remember aright—confined in a large cage or small aviary at Glenferness, Nairnshire. The brilliant scarlet plumage which distinguishes the adult male in a state of freedom had changed on these captives to yellowish-olive, and I was informed that this was the invariable effect of captivity. The late Lord Lilford kept a number of crossbills in his famous aviary, and has the following note in his coloured “Figures of Birds of the British Isles”:—

Egyptian Birds, for the Most Part seen in the Nile Valley

WE have nothing but praise for Mr. Whymper's drawings. Being more in the nature of landscapes with birds in the foreground than figures of birds with a suitable background, they naturally gain from an artistic standpoint, and this has not detracted from their value as guides towards identification. Many of the drawings are, indeed, most pleasing pictures, and convey a delightful impression of the surroundings amongst which the visitor to Egypt may expect to see the birds depicted. On the whole, Mr. Whymper has not suffered greatly at the hands of the block-maker, though we may remark generally that the colouring of the plates is more pleasing by artificial light than by daylight, and we imagine that the green legs and feet of the griffon vulture, the purple hues of the chats, and such like inaccuracies in colouring are due to the engraver's or,printer's art rather than to the artist's.

A Remarkable Flight of Birds

ON September 30, 1894, about 3 p.m., I was observing the sun through an 8-inch telescope. I noticed some dark figures of birds passing, like shadows, across the sun. I was using a dark glass, and the birds were, consequently, only visible when seen against the bright solar disc. The silhouettes of the birds were very sharply and clearly cut. Every few seconds a bird would emerge from the darkness, pass slowly across the sun and disappear on the other side. I watched them for over ten minutes without any decrease in their numbers. The whole number of birds must have been enormous, otherwise it would have been impossible for some of them to have passed as frequently as they did between my telescope and the sun. The birds were flying in a southerly direction, and were quite invisible to the naked eye. I was, therefore, unable to determine their distance, but should think they must have been two or three miles away, for the telescope was in focus for the birds and sun at the same time. I do not know what birds they were. Comparing the spread of their wings with the solar disc, I should say their wings subtended an angle of about two minutes. The place from which I observed them was Shere, a village between Guildford and Dorking. I am told that such a flight of birds has not before been recorded in this country, and have been urged to publish an account in the hope that other astronomers, who may have seen a similar thing, may be led to mention the fact.