h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My sources say that the Roc was not a form of the Phoenix but a huge bird that fed its young by lifting an elephant high in the air and dropping it. One roc was described in "Arabian Knights". Sinbad(the sailor, not the comedian) tied himself to its leg with his turban and was flown to freedom from a deserted island.

To me, that sounds like a completly different bird than the Phoenix.

Possibly the word 'Roc' was used synonymously for both mythical birds. They do after all share one thing in common - they are both bizzarely improbable magical birds.

Or perhaps something has been misinterpreted somewhere along the historical line and both legends became intertwined.

Who knows...

Probably.

I got my information from a reputable source, of course.
It was my Mythological Beasts Coloring Book.

I also believed the Roc to be a different creature. In one of Sinbad's early voyages, he found a giant egg on a beach and his men cooked and ate it. This angered the mummy Roc who attacked the sailors. If only one Phoenix ever existed at any one time, this would mean that the Roc and the Phoenix were two different things.