Halcyon: A bird, otherwise known as the kingfisher, believed to calm storms during the time of its incubation. According to legend, Alcyon’s husband Ceyx is drowned at sea, with his last thought being of her and that, if he doesn’t live, he may return to her after death. When his body floats back to her, out of grief she throws herself into the sea, but as she does, she is turned into a bird. In her sorrow, she flies over her husband and enfolds him with her wings. The gods take pity on them, and turn both of them into kingfishers. During the two weeks around the Winter Solstice in which the kingfishers nest and incubate their young, the weather is unusually placid, hence the term “Halcyon Days.”