Heracles Labors: the Stymphalian Birds.
     For his fifth labor (sometimes called the sixth), Heracles (Hercules) was to kill the birds that infested the woods by Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. Some sources say that the birds were man-eating creatures with brazen claws and feathers that could be shot like arrows. Heracles flushed out the birds by making a great noise with a rattle — made by Hephaestus and given to him by Athena — and then shot them with his bow.

Further Reference:
Galinsky, G. Karl. 1972. The Herakles Theme: The Adaptations of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century. Totowa, N.J., Rowman & Littlefield.


Listings for Heracles' Labors are arranged under the following headings:
Heracles Labors, General List
The Nemean Lion
The Lernean Hydra
The Erymanthian Boar
The Ceryneian Hind
The Stymphalian Birds
The Stables of Augeas
Heracles and Antaeus
The Cretan Bull
The Mares of Diomedes
The Girdle of Hippolyta
The Cattle of Geryon
The Apples of the Hesperides
Cerberus

For Heracles entries generally:
Heracles