next page previous page table of contents home

As to the word rutua it could be a Sign for Ru-tu'a, the back side of the Lord (Hatu) of Earthquakes (Nga Rue).

Tua. 1. Back, shoulder, tu'a ivi, shoulder blade; tu'a ivi more, lumbago; moa tu'a ivi raá, 'sun-back chicken': chicken with a yellow back which shines in the sun. 2. Behind (a locative adverb, used with i, ki, a, o, etc). Tu'a-papa, pelvis, hips. Vanaga. 1. Behind, back, rear; ki tua, after; o tua, younger; taki tua, perineum. 2. Sea urchin, echinus. The word must have a germ sense indicating something spinous which will be satisfactorily descriptive of the sea urchin all spines, the prawn with antennae and thin long legs, and in the Maori the shell of Mesodesma spissa. Tuaapapa, haunch, hip, spine. Tuahaigoigo, tattooing on the back. Tuahuri, abortion; poki tuahuri, abortive child. Tuaivi, spine, vertebræ, back, loins; mate mai te tuaivi, ill at ease. Tuakana, elder, elder brother; tuakana tamaahina, elder sister. Tuamouga, mountain summit. Tuatua, to glean. Mgv. tua: To fell, to cut down. Ta.: tua, to cut. Mq.: tua, to fell, to cut down. Ma.: tua, id. Tuaki, to disembowel. Ma.: tuaki, to clean fish. Tuavera, the last breadfruit spoiled by the wind. Ta.: tuavera, burnt by the sun. Churchill.

... When this tremendous task had been accomplished Atea took a third husband, Fa'a-hotu, Make Fruitful. Then occurred a curious event. Whether Atea had wearied of bringing forth offspring we are not told, but certain it is that Atea and her husband Fa'a-hotu exchanged sexes. Then the [male] eyes of Atea glanced down at those of his wife Hotu and they begat Ru. It was this Ru who explored the whole earth and divided it into north, south, east, and west ...

Ru. A chill, to shiver, to shudder, to quake; manava ru, groan. Ruru, fever, chill, to shiver, to shake, to tremble, to quiver, to vibrate, commotion, to apprehend, moved, to agitate, to strike the water, to print; manava ruru, alarm; rima ruru, to shake hands. P Pau.: ruru, to shake, to tremble. Mgv.: ru, to shiver with cold, to shake with fever, to tremble. Mq.: ú, to tremble, to quiver. Ta.: ruru, to tremble. Churchill. Mgv.: eager, in haste, impatient. Ta.: ru, impatience, haste. Churchill. Ruru, to tremble, an earthquake. Sa.: lūlū, lue, to shake. To.: luelue, to roll; lulu, to shake. Fu.: lulū, to tremble, to shake, to agitate. Niuē: luelue, to shake; lūlū, to shake, to be shaken. Nuguria: ruhe, motion of the hands in dancing; luhe henua, an earthquake. Uvea, Ha.: lu, lulu, lululu, to shake, to tremble, to flap. Fotuna: no-ruruia, to shake. Ma.: ru, ruru, to shake, an earthquake. Ta., Rarotonga, Rapanui, Pau.: ruru, to shake, to tremble. Mgv.: ru, to tremble; ruru, to shake. Mq.: uu, to shake the head in negation; uuuu, to shake up. Uvea: ue i, to shake; ueue, to move. Rapanui: ueue, to shake. Churchill 2.

Names for Mercury:

Hawaiian Islands

Society Islands

Tuamotus

New Zealand

Pukapuka

Ukali or Ukali-alii 'Following-the-chief' (i.e. the Sun)

Kawela 'Radiant'

Ta'ero or Ta'ero-arii 'Royal-inebriate' (referring to the eccentric and undignified behavior of the planet as it zigzags from one side of the Sun to the other)

Fatu-ngarue 'Weave-to-and-fro' Fatu-nga-rue 'Lord of the Earthquake'

Whiro 'Steals-off-and-hides'; also the universal name for the 'dark of the Moon' or the first day of the lunar month; also the deity of sneak thieves and rascals.

Te Mata-pili-loa-ki-te-la 'Star-very-close-to-the-Sun'

Another name for the Earthquake God was Rua(u)-moko:

Rua. 1. Two; second; other (precedes the noun); te rua paiga, the other side. 2. Hole, grave; holes in the rocks or between the rocks of the coastal lagoons; he keri i te rua, to dig a hole. 3. To vomit. Vanaga. 1. Two. P Mgv., Ta.: rua, id. Mq.: úa. 2. Nausea, seasickness, to vomit, disgust; hakarua, to vomit, to spew. PS Mgv.: aruai, ruai, to vomit. Mq.: úa, id. Ta.: ruai, id. Pau.: ruaki, id. Sa.: lua'i, to spit out of the mouth; lulua, to vomit. To.: lua to vomit. Fu.: lulua, luaki, id. Niuē: lua, id. Viti: lua, id.; loloa, seasick. 3. Cave, hollow, ditch, pit, hole, beaten path, grave; rua papaka, a ditch. P Pau.: rua, a hole. Mgv.: rua, a hole in the ground, ditch, trench. Mq.: úa, dish, hole, cavern. Ta.: rua, hole, opening, ditch. Churchill. Ta.: ruahine, an old woman. Ma.: ruahine, id. Ta.: ruaroa, tropic of Capricorn. Mq.: uaoa, a constellation, the eleventh month. The sense in Tahiti is probably that of some constellation which may be used to determine the position. Ta.: ruau, an old man, an old woman. Ha.: luau, a parent. Churchill.

... They were Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, both sealed together in a close embrace. Crushed between the weight of their bodies were their many children, whose oppression deepened. They yearned to be free; they fought their parents and each other to break loose. Tuumatauenga, virile god of war, thrust and shouted; Tangaroa of the oceans whirled and surged; Tawhirirangimaatea, Haumiatiketike and Rongomatane, of wild foods and cultivated crops, tried their best but were not successful; and Ruamoko, god of earthquakes, yet to be born, struggled in the confinement of his mother's womb ... Of them all, Taane Mahuta [cfr Mahute, Boussonetia papyrifera], the god of the forests, was the most determined; he set his sturdy feet upon his father's chest, and braced his upper back and shoulders against the bosom of his mother. He pushed; and they parted. So the world, as the Maori understand it, came into being ...

moko

... It was an old Maori belief that a change of seasons was often facilitated by earthquakes. Ruau-moko, a god of the Underworld, was said to bring about changes of season, punctuating them with an earthquake. Or as another Maori saying summed up the matter, 'It is the Earth-mother shaking her breasts, and a sign of the change of season' ...

... Maybe rutu means Ru (is) Tu, in other words: the season is governed by Ru, the earthquake god ...

... Muan must fly in the evening, not in the morning. Vultures and owls belong to the last phase of summer, and then follows the 'quake' (16 Ollin):

10

Ozomatli (monkey)

Chuen

monkey

11

Malinalli (grass)

Eb

broom

12

Acatl (reed)

Ben

reed

13

Ocelotl (jaguar)

Ix

tiger, magician

14

Cuauhtli (eagle)

Men

bird, eagle

15

Cozcacuauhtli (buzzard)

Cib

owl, vulture

16

Ollin (movement)

Caban

force, earth

17

Tecpatl (flint knife)

Etz'nab

flint knife

18

Quiahuitl (rain)

Cauac

storm, tun

19

Xochitl (flower)

Ahau

lord

... This terra-cotta mask shows the unlovely face of Humbaba/Huwawa, the guardian of the cedar felled by Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The title of 'God of the fortress of intestines' is also given to him, and some scholars conclude from this title, as well as from the pictorial evidence, that Humbaba was the inhabitant and lord of the labyrinth, a predessor of Minotaurus ...

Somewhere I have read that the reciting of rongorongo texts took place in the last quarter of the month, and while reciting the priests sat down on their buttocks leaning from side to side - they were 'weaving' from side to side (Fatu-ngarue).

... Five days of illumination, called the 'Lighting of the Flame' (which in the earlier reading of this miracle play would have followed the quenching of the fires on the dark night of the moon when the king was ritually slain), preceded the five days of the festival itself; and then the solemn occasion (ad majorem dei gloriam) commenced. The opening rites were under the patronage of Hathor. The king, wearing the belt with her four faces and the tail of her mighty bull, moved in numerious processions, preceded by his four standards, from one temple to the next, presenting favors (not offerings) to the gods.Whereafter the priesthoods arrived in homage before his throne, bearing the symbols of their gods. More processions followed, during which, the king moved about - as Professor Frankfort states in his account - 'like the shuttle in a great loom' to re-create the fabric of his domain, into which the cosmic powers represented by the gods, no less than the people of the land, were to be woven ...

Although Metoro did not read the G tablet for Bishop Jaussen we have anyhow managed to connect Mercury with the beginning of its side b:

Side a according to the heliacal Gregorian calendar has SIRIUS at °June 30 when NUNKI was close to the Full Moon (cfr Ga2-11).

Side b at the time of Julius Caesar has SIRIUS at 'June 30 when ROTTEN MELON was close to the Full Moon (cfr Gb1-18).

NOV 6 7 8 9 (*233) 10 (314)
Gb1-1 (230 = 2 * 115) Gb1-2 Gb1-3 Gb1-4 Gb1-5

 Synodic cycles

Mercury

115.88

Venus

583.92

Earth

364.0 = π * 115.88

Mars

779.96

Jupiter

398.88

Saturn

378.09

Uranus

369.66

CLOSE TO THE SUN:
DENEB OKAB (Tail of the Eagle) = δ Aquilae (Ant.) (294.0), α VULPECULAE (Little Fox) (294.9) ν Aquilae (Ant.) (295.0), ALBIREO (Ab Ireo) = β Cygni (295.5) ALSAFI (Fire Tripod) = σ Draconis (296.0), μ Aquilae (296.3), ι Aquilae (Ant.) (296.8), κ Aquilae (Ant.) (296.9)

ε Sagittae (297.1), σ Aquilae (Ant.) (297.4), SHAM (Arrow) = α Sagittae (297.8)

*256.0 = *297.4 - *41.4
β Sagittae (298.0), χ Aquilae (298.3), ψ Aquilae (298.8)

... In late September or early October 130, Hadrian and his entourage, among them Antinous, assembled at Heliopolis to set sail upstream as part of a flotilla along the River Nile. The retinue included officials, the Prefect, army and naval commanders, as well as literary and scholarly figures. Possibly also joining them was Lucius Ceionius Commodus, a young aristocrat whom Antinous might have deemed a rival to Hadrian's affections. On their journey up the Nile, they stopped at Hermopolis Magna, the primary shrine to the god Thoth. It was shortly after this, in October [in the year A.D.] 130 - around the time of the festival of Osiris - that Antinous fell into the river and died, probably from drowning. Hadrian publicly announced his death, with gossip soon spreading throughout the Empire that Antinous had been intentionally killed. The nature of Antinous's death remains a mystery to this day, and it is possible that Hadrian himself never knew; however, various hypotheses have been put forward. One possibility is that he was murdered by a conspiracy at court. However, Lambert asserted that this was unlikely because it lacked any supporting historical evidence, and because Antinous himself seemingly exerted little influence over Hadrian, thus meaning that an assassination served little purpose. Another suggestion is that Antinous had died during a voluntary castration as part of an attempt to retain his youth and thus his sexual appeal to Hadrian. However, this is improbable because Hadrian deemed both castration and circumcision to be abominations and as Antinous was aged between 18 and 20 [→ 19] at the time of death, any such operation would have been ineffective. A third possibility is that the death was accidental, perhaps if Antinous was intoxicated. However, in the surviving evidence Hadrian does not describe the death as being an accident; Lambert thought that this was suspicious. Another possibility is that Antinous represented a voluntary human sacrifice. Our earliest surviving evidence for this comes from the writings of Dio Cassius, 80 years after the event, although it would later be repeated in many subsequent sources. In the second century Roman Empire, a belief that the death of one could rejuvenate the health of another was widespread, and Hadrian had been ill for many years; in this scenario, Antinous could have sacrificed himself in the belief that Hadrian would have recovered. Alternately, in Egyptian tradition it was held that sacrifices of boys to the Nile, particularly at the time of the October Osiris festival, would ensure that the River would flood to its full capacity and thus fertilize the valley; this was made all the more urgent as the Nile's floods had been insufficient for full agricultural production in both 129 and 130. In this situation, Hadrian might not have revealed the cause of Antinous's death because he did not wish to appear either physically or politically weak. Conversely, opposing this possibility is the fact that Hadrian disliked human sacrifice and had strengthened laws against it in the Empire ...

Jan 9 10 (*295) 11 12 13 (378 → Saturn)
°Jan 5 (*290 = 370 - 80) 6 7 8 9
'Dec 13 (LUCIA) 14 (*268) 15 16 (350 = 50 weeks) 17
"Nov 29 30 (*254) "Dec 1 2 (336 = 48 weeks) 3
CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON:
7 (492 = 4 * 123 = 12 * 41) MAY 8 (365 + 2 * 64 = 493 9 (*49) 10 (130) 11

ALUDRA (Virgin) = η Canis Majoris (111.1), PROPUS = ι Gemini (111.4) GOMEISA (Water-eyed) = β Canis Minoris (111.6)

*70.0 = *111.4 - *41.4

ρ Gemini (?) (112.1), Eskimo Nebula = NGC2392 Gemini (112.2)

ANTARES (α Scorpii)

Al Dhirā'-5 (Forearm) / Punarvasu-7 (The Two Restorers of Goods) / Mash-mashu-Mahrū-10 (Western One of the Twins)

CASTOR = α Gemini

*113.4 = *41.4 + *72.0

ANA-TAHUA-VAHINE-O-TOA-TE-MANAVA-7 (Pillar for elocution)

υ Gemini (114.0), MARKAB PUPPIS = κ Puppis (114.7), ο Gemini (114.8), PROCYON = α Canis Minoris (114.9)
α Monocerotis (115.4), σ Gemini (115.7)

*74.0 = *115.4 - *41.4

July 10 July 11 12 (193) 13 14 (*480)
°July 6 7 (188) 8 9 10 (*111)
'June 13 14 15 (166) 16 17 (*88)
"May 30 31 Te Maro 1 (8 * 19) "June 2 3 (*64)

... On the twenty-fifth day of the first month (Vaitu Nui), Ira and Makoi set sail; on the first day of June ('Maro'), the bow of Ira's canoe appeared on the distant horizon, came closer and closer on its course, and sailed along, and finally (one) could see the (new home) land ... (E:17)

Ga2-17 Ga2-18 Ga2-19 Ga2-20 (50) Ga2-21
NOV 11 (315) 12 (*236 = 472 / 2) 13
Gb1-6 (235) Gb1-7 Gb1-8
CLOSE TO THE SUN:
υ Aquilae (299.1), TARAZED (Star-striking Falcon) = γ Aquilae (299.3), δ Sagittae (299.6), π Aquilae (299.9)

Sravana-23 (Ear or Three Footprints)

TYL = ε Draconis (300.0), ζ Sagittae (300.1), ALTAIR (Flying Eagle) = α Aquilae (300.3), ο Aquilae (300.5), BEZEK = η Aquilae (Ant.) (300.8)
ι Sagittarii (301.2), TEREBELLUM = ω Sagittarii, ξ Aquilae (301.3), ALSHAIN (Falcon) = β Aquilae (301.6), φ Aquilae (301.8)
Jan 14 15 (*300) 16 (381)
°Jan 10 (*295) 11 12 (377)
'Dec 18 (*272) 19 20 (354 = 12 * 29½)
"Dec 4 5 (339) 6 (*260)
CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON:
MAY 12 (*52) 13 (133) 14

Mash-mashu-arkū-11 (Eastern One of the Twins)

κ Gemini (116.1), POLLUX = β Gemini (116.2), π Gemini (116.9)

AZMIDISKE = ξ Puppis (117.4)

*76.0 = *117.4 - *41.4

φ Gemini (118.4)

*77.0 = *118.4 - *41.4
July 15 (196) 16 (*482) 17 (*118)
°July 11 (192) 12 (*478) 13 (*114)
'June 18 (*454) 19 (170) 20 (*91)
"June 4 (*440) 5 (156) 6 (*77)
Ga2-22 Ga2-23 Ga2-24

And with help from Manuscript E (E:17) we can find Mercury at the beginning of the voyage of the Explorers (planets), because at the time of Bharani (the place of birth) "April 25 (115 → Mercury) was at Cursa (the 'footstool' of Rigel - the right foot of Orion):

tagata tuu rima ki ruga te maitaki te henua Rei hata ia tagata rogo

... the first month of the Moriori year, was named Rongo (Lono). On the first of the new year the Moriori launched a small canoe to Rongo, although they built and used only rude craft for their fishing excursions. The canoe was manned by twelve figures symbolizing the personifications of the twelve months. Sometimes twenty-four figures were placed in the canoe, and Skinner interprets the additional twelve as representing the female counterparts of the months. As an old Maori once remarked. 'Everything has its female counterpart ...

Rogo

Ca3-21 (→ March 21 → Gregorian equinox) Ca3-22 (73) Ca3-23 Ca3-24 Ca3-25 (→ March 25→ Julian equinox)

Hata. 1. Table, bureau. P Pau.: afata, a chest, box. Mgv.: avata, a box, case, trunk, coffin. Mq.: fata, hata, a piece of wood with several branches serving as a rack, space, to ramify, to branch; fataá, hataá, stage, step, shelf. Ta.: fata, scaffold, altar. 2. Hakahata, to disjoint; hakahatahata, to loosen, to stretch. P Pau.: vata, an interval, interstice. Mgv.: kohata, the space between two boards, to be badly joined; akakohata, to leave a space between two bodies badly joined; hakahata, to be large, broad, wide, spacious, far off. Mq.: hatahata, fatafata, having chinks, not tightly closed, disjointed. Ta.: fatafata, open. 3. Hatahata, calm, loose, prolix, vast. Mgv.: hatahara, broad, wide, spacious, at one's ease. Ta.: fatafata, free from care. Mq.: hatahata, empty, open. 4. Hatahata, tube, pipe, funnel. Churchill. Sa.: fata, a raised house in which to store yams, a shelf, a handbarrow, a bier, a litter, an altar, to carry on a litter; fatāmanu, a scaffold. To.: fata, a loft, a bier, a handbarrow, to carry on a bier; fataki, a platform. Fu.: fata, a barrow, a loft; fatataki, two sticks or canes attached to each other at each side of a house post to serve as a shelf. Niuē: fata, a cage, a handbarrow, a shelf, a stage, (sometimes) the upper story of a house. Uvea: fata, a barrow, a bier. Fotuna: fata, a stage. Ta.: fata, an altar, a scaffold, a piece of wood put up to hang baskets of food on; afata, a chest, a box, a coop, a raft, a scaffold. Pau.: fata, a heap; afata, a box, a chest. Ma.: whata, a platform or raised storehouse for food, an altar, to elevate, to support. Moriori: whata, a raft. Mq.: fata, hata, hataá, shelves. Rapanui: hata, a table. Ha.: haka, a ladder, an artificial henroost; alahaka, a ladder. Mg.: ata, a shelf; atamoa, a ladder; atarau, an altar. Mgv.: avata, a coffer, a box. Vi.: vata, a loft, a shelf; tāvata, a bier. The Samoan fata is a pair of light timbers pointed at the ends and tied across the center posts of the house, one in front, the other behind the line of posts; rolls of mats and bales of sennit may be laid across these timbers; baskets or reserved victuals may be hung on the ends. The litter and the barrow are two light poles with small slats lashed across at intervals. The Marquesan fata is a stout stem of a sapling with the stumps of several branches, a hat tree in shape, though found among a barehead folk. These illustrations are sufficient to show what is the common element in all these fata identifications, light cross-pieces spaced at intervals. With this for a primal signifaction it is easy to see how a ladder, a raft, a henroost, an altar come under the same stem for designation. Perhaps Samoan fatafata the breast obtains the name by reason of the ribs; it would be convincing were it not that the plumpness of most Samoans leaves the ribs a matter of anatomical inference. Churchill 2. ... Teke said to Oti, 'Go and take the hauhau tree, the paper mulberry tree, rushes, tavari plants, uku koko grass, riku ferns, ngaoho plants, the toromiro tree, hiki kioe plants (Cyperus vegetus), the sandalwood tree, harahara plants, pua nakonako plants, nehenehe ferns, hua taru grass, poporo plants, bottle gourds (ipu ngutu), kohe plants, kavakava atua ferns, fragrant tuere heu grass, tureme grass (Diochelachne sciurea), matie grass, and the two kinds of cockroaches makere and hata.' ... The division into quarters of a 28-series can be applied to the main phases of the moon during the visible period as was as to a (reflex of the old world?) sidereal month. The separate subgroup (29 makere - 30 hata) consists of the names of two types of cockroaches, but in related eastern Polynesian languages these names can also be explained on a different level. MAO. makere, among others, 'to die', and whata, among others, 'to be laid to rest on a platform', deserve special attention. The theme hinted at is one of death and burial. In our scheme they occur at just that time when the moon 'has died'! This lends further support to the lunar thesis. Barthel 2.

CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON:
June 1 (152) 2 3 4 5
π4 Orionis (72.1), ο¹ Orionis (72.4), π5 Orionis (72.8)

*31.0 = *72.4 - *41.4

π¹ Orionis (73.0), ο² Orionis (73.4), HASSALEH = ι Aurigae (73.6), π6 Orionis (73.9)

*32.0 = *73.4 - *41.4

ALMAAZ (The Male Goat) = ε Aurigae (74.7), HAEDUS I = ζ Aurigae (74.8) HAEDUS II = η Aurigae (75.9) 5h (76.1)

ε Leporis (76.0), CURSA = β Eridani (76.4), λ Eridani (76.7)

*35.0 = *76.4 - *41.4

"April 21 (111) 22 23 24 Vaitu Nui 25 (115)
DAY 72 73 (= 365 / 5) 74 75 76
CLOSE TO THE SUN:
Dec 1 2 3 4 5
Ophiuchi (255.3), GRAFIAS (Claws) = ζ Scorpii (255.4) κ Ophiuchi (256.2), ζ Arae (256.5), ε Arae (256.8), CUJAM (Club) = ε Herculi (256.9) no star listed (257) 17h (258.7)

ARRAKIS = μ Draconis (258.7)

Mula-19 (The Root)

SABIK (The Preceding One) = η Ophiuchi (259.7), η Scorpii (259.9)
DAY 255 256 (= 4 * 64) 257 258 259
kua tupu te rakau kua tupu - te kihikihi te hau tea
Ca4-1 (77) Ca4-2 Ca4-3
CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON:
μ Aurigae, μ Leporis (77.6)  ĸ Leporis (78.0), RIGEL (Foot) = β Orionis (78.1), Flaming Star = IC405 (78.2), CAPELLA = α Aurigae (78.4), ο Columbae, τ Orionis (78.8)

*37.0 = *78.4 - *41.4

THUBAN (α Draconis)

λ Aurigae (79.0), λ Leporis (79.6), ρ Aurigae (79.7)

ARCTURUS (α Bootis)

June 6 (157 = 314 / 2) 7 (*78) 8 (4 * 29½ + 41)
DAY 77 (11 weeks) 78 (= 3 * 26) 79 → northern spring equinox
CLOSE TO THE SUN:
Dec 6 (340 = 157 + 183) 7 (*261 = *78 + *183) 8
DAY 260 261 (= 9 * 29) 262

Te Kihikihi could have have referred to a time of ashes, because with slash-and-burn agriculture this implies a new growth ahead.

Rehua (Antares) is a name which similarly refers to ashes (and the grey colour of early dawn).

Rehu. 1. Dust. P Mgv.: rehu, a cinder, coal, ashes. Mq.: éhuahi, ashes. Ta.: rehu, ashes, soot, any powder. 2. To omit, to forget, to faint. Rehurehu, to omit, omission, lost to sight. Hakarehu, to surprise. Rehua, unintelligible. Churchill. Mgv.: rehurehu, from early dawn to mid morning. Ta.: rehurehu, twilight. Mq.: ehuehu, id. Churchill. Mq.: ehu, to fall in bits. Ma.: rehu, to split off in chips. Ehua, Ehuo, a large constellation. Ma.: rehua, a star or planet, probably Jupiter. Churchill.

... Before I had time to take notes the information was gone from my TV screen. But what remains in my memory must be retold. There was somewhere among the 'Paradise Islands' - which ought to have been located close to New Guinea where the birds of paradise once were thriving - a species which I think might have been the origin of the mythical Phoenix. It laid a single great white egg and after some time (27 days if I remember it right) a rather fully grown chicken emerged from the ashes in which his mother had dug a properly located hole. This hole had to be on the slope of an active volcano and the temperature in the hole she had dug with her powerful feet down into the ashes had to keep a temperature close to 95º Fahrenheit. His mother had fought with other such birds in order to secure a good hole which had exactly the right temperature for hatching out her offspring. Unfortunately I cannot recall with certainty what the name of this species was, but the bird was sooty black all over and looked rather similar to a raven. Later I investigated further by way of the internet and concluded that this bird born from the ashes ought to be a close relative to the greater of the Melampitta pair (i.e. Megalampitta giganteus) - a curious character who has its nest down in limestone sinkholes and who has stubby wings from climbing up and down the walls inside such a hole ...