an Athenian audience of two thousand years ago, though, of course,
much is inevitably lost "without the important adjuncts
of music, scenery, dresses and what we may call 'spectacle' generally,
which we know in this instance to have been on the most
magnificent scale."

The plot is this. Euelpides and Pisthetaerus, two old Athenians,
disgusted with the litigiousness, wrangling and sycophancy of
their countrymen, resolve upon quitting Attica. Having heard
of the fame of Epops (the hoopoe), sometime called Tereus,
and now King of the Birds, they determine, under the direction
of a raven and a jackdaw, to seek from him and his subject
birds a city free from all care and strife." Arrived at the Palace
of Epops, they knock, and Trochilus (the wren), in a state of
great flutter, as he mistakes them for fowlers, opens the door
and informs them that his Majesty is asleep. When he awakes,
the strangers appear before him, and after listening to a long
and eloquent harangue on the superior attractions of a residence
among the birds, they propose a notable scheme of their own
to further enhance its advantages and definitely secure the
sovereignty of the universe now exercised by the gods of Olympus.

The birds are summoned to meet in general council. They come
flying up from all quarters of the heavens, and after a brief mis-
understanding, during which they come near tearing the two
human envoys to pieces, they listen to the exposition of the latters'
plan. This is nothing less than the building of a new city,
to be called Nephelococcygia, or 'Cloud-cuckoo-town,' between
earth and heaven, to be garrisoned and guarded by the birds in
such a way as to intercept all communication of the gods with