Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) Palm Beach Zoo by Lee

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalms 103:11-12 KJV)

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,” (Ephesians 2:4 KJV)

Avian and Attributes – Mercy

MER’CY, n. [L. misericordia.]
1. That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy. That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. Mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being.
The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty. Num 14.

2. An act or exercise of mercy or favor. It is a mercy that they escaped.
I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies. Gen 32.

3. Pity; compassion manifested towards a person in distress.
And he said, he that showed mercy on him. Luke 10.

4. Clemency and bounty.
Mercy and truth preserve the king; and his throne is upheld by mercy. Prov 28.

5. Charity, or the duties of charity and benevolence.
I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Mat 9.

6. Grace; favor. 1 Cor 7. Jude 2.

7. Eternal life, the fruit of mercy. 2 Tim 1.

8. Pardon.
I cry thee mercy with all my heart.

9. The act of sparing, or the forbearance of a violent act expected. The prisoner cried for mercy.
To be or to lie at the mercy of, to have no means of self-defense, but to be dependent for safety on the mercy or compassion of another, or in the power of that which is irresistible; as, to be at the mercy of a foe, or of the waves.

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“If we could remember that the divine mercy is not a temporary mood but an attribute of God’s eternal being, we would no longer fear that it will someday cease to be. Mercy never began to be, but from eternity was; so it will never cease to be. It will never be more since it is itself infinite; and it will never be less because the infinite cannot suffer diminution.” A. W. Tozer, (Knowledge of the Holy, p.91)

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) by Lee at PB Zoo

Chestnut-breasted Malkoha

The Chestnut-breasted Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Found in Southeast Asia from Myanmar through to eastern Java, the Philippines and Borneo, it is a large cuckoo measuring up to 49 cm (19 in) with grey and dark green upperparts and chestnut underparts, and a large curved pale upper mandible. The male and female are similar in plumage. Unlike many cuckoos, it builds its nest and raises its own young.

It eats small vertebrates, such as small lizards, frogs, and baby birds, and insects, including caterpillars, grasshoppers, cicadas, stick insects, mantises, cockroaches, beetles, and bugs, as well as spiders and small crabs.  Cuculidae – Cuckoos Family

More Avian and Attributes

Birds whose last name start with “M”

Birds of the Bible – Chestnut-breasted Malkoha

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[Definitions from Webster’s Dictionary of American English (1828), unless noted. Bird info from Wikipedia plus.]