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Description
The halcyon was a bird mentioned in medieval bestiaries that would lay its eggs either in the sand or in the sea itself in midwinter. The halcyon would then take care of the eggs for a week, and after they hatched would care for the babies another week. During these two weeks, the sea would be unnaturally calm, leading to the term "halcyon days". Nowadays the word "halcyon", taken from the Greek alkyon, is thought to refer to a kingfisher; Pseudo-Apollodorus said the queen of Trachis was named Alcyone, and she and her husband Ceyx (a word referring to some kind of seabird) would sometimes call each other Hera and Zeus playfully. This got Zeus so mad he killed Ceyx with a thunderbolt, and when Alcyone found out she threw herself into the sea in anguish and drowned. The gods, feeling bad, turned them into (living) birds, Alcyone into a kingfisher and Ceyx into a gannet, both birds that hurl themselves into water. Sensitive.

Oh, and according to Wiktionary, in Australia and Britain "turtle" refers only to sea turtles, while freshwater turtles are called "terrapins". Who knew?

(It should be fairly obvious by now that I sometimes draw these pictures with no dialogue in mind, and then make up something for them to be saying after the picture has finished, right?)

Description
The halcyon was a bird mentioned in medieval bestiaries that would lay its eggs either in the sand or in the sea itself in midwinter. The halcyon would then take care of the eggs for a week, and after they hatched would care for the babies another week. During these two weeks, the sea would be unnaturally calm, leading to the term "halcyon days". Nowadays the word "halcyon", taken from the Greek alkyon, is thought to refer to a kingfisher; Pseudo-Apollodorus said the queen of Trachis was named Alcyone, and she and her husband Ceyx (a word referring to some kind of seabird) would sometimes call each other Hera and Zeus playfully. This got Zeus so mad he killed Ceyx with a thunderbolt, and when Alcyone found out she threw herself into the sea in anguish and drowned. The gods, feeling bad, turned them into (living) birds, Alcyone into a kingfisher and Ceyx into a gannet, both birds that hurl themselves into water. Sensitive.

Oh, and according to Wiktionary, in Australia and Britain "turtle" refers only to sea turtles, while freshwater turtles are called "terrapins". Who knew?

(It should be fairly obvious by now that I sometimes draw these pictures with no dialogue in mind, and then make up something for them to be saying after the picture has finished, right?)