They derived omens from five sources: 1, from celestial phenomena, such as thunder, lightning, comets, &c.; 2, from the flight of birds; 3, from the feeding of the sacred chickens; 4, from the appearance of a beast in any unusual place; 5, from any accident that occurred unexpectedly.
6.

The usual form of taking an augury was very solemn; the augur ascended a tower, bearing in his hand a curved stick called a lituus.
He turned his face to the east, and marked out some distant objects as the limits within which he would make his observations, and divided mentally the enclosed space into four divisions.

He next, with covered head, offered sacrifices to the gods, and prayed that they would vouchsafe some manifestation of their will.

After these preliminaries he made his observations in silence, and then announced the result to the expecting people.
7.

The Arusp'ices were a Tuscan order of priests, who attempted to predict futurity by observing the beasts offered in sacrifice.