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Picus

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Picus

In Roman mythology, a woodpecker sacred to Mars. A minor agricultural deity associated with the fertilization of the soil, Picus was widely worshiped in ancient Italy. Later versions of the myth made him an early king of Italy, whose bride, Circe, changed him into a woodpecker. In art he was shown as a woodpecker mounted on a pillar, and later as a youth with a woodpecker on his head. The woodpecker was also an important bird in augury.


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Hardly were the words spoken, and before the bird had time to utter another "pe--weep," King Picus leaped down from the bough of a tree, as majestic a sovereign as any in the world, dressed in a long purple robe and gorgeous yellow stockings, with a splendidly wrought collar about his neck, and a golden crown upon his head.
 
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