Joanne lee Crouse, age 11,  of Burlington, N.C., for her question:

What kind of bird was the phoenix?

The phoenix belongs in the impossible circus of doctor Lao in the company of the sphinx and the centaur, the mermaid and medusa. It was created by human imagination, and it never existed in the real world of nature. The mythical phoenix and the mythical sphinx were created in ancient egypt, where so many of the dieties were impossible mixtures of men, gods and animals.

According to the legend, the splendid phoenix bird used a dramatic trick that enabled him to live forever. After living for 500 years, he became old and worn. Instead of departing at the end of this life span, he kindled a fire and burned himself, and from his own ashes he sprang to life again as a young phoenix, or so the legend claimed. In the ancient world he stood for immortality, for the mythical phoenix could rise reborn from his ashes again arid again.