CHAPTER XV

SOME PRETTY INDIAN STORIES

Not many of the stories about birds now or formerly current among the American aborigines are of a pleasing character. They are fantastic myths for the most part, as appears from many of the incidents given elsewhere in this book; and often they are so wildly improbable, incoherent, and unbirdlike as to disgust rather than interest us. That is partly owing, no doubt, to our difficulty in taking the native point of view, and our ignorance of the significance the half-animal, half-human characters in the tales have to the redmen, with whom, in most cases, the startling narratives pass for veritable tribal history. Their stories are as foreign to our minds as is their “tum-tum” music to our ears. Now and then, however, we come across an understanding and pleasing legend, of purely native origin, and touched with poetic feeling.

A favorite story among the central Eskimos, for instance, is that of their race-mother Sedna, who was the daughter of a chief, and was wooed by a fulmar (a kind of northern petrel) who promised her, if she would marry him, a delightful life in his distant home. So she went away with him. But she had been ruefully deceived, and was cruelly mistreated. A year later her father went to pay her a visit; and discovering her misery he killed her husband and took his repentant daughter home. The other fulmars in the village followed them, mourning and crying for their murdered fellow, and fulmars continue to utter doleful cries to this day.

Another Eskimo tale relates that a loon told a poor blind boy that he could cure him of his affliction. So the boy crept after the bird to a lake, where the loon took him and dived with him into the water. Three times they repeated their submergence, the last time staying a long time under the water, but when the boy came to the surface after the third diving he had good eyesight. This seems one of the rare examples of a tale told simply for its own sake, and free of any esoteric significance.

A very pretty legend, current among the Eskimos of western Alaska, has been preserved for us by Edward W. Nelson,[101] who spent several years, late in the 19th century, in studying the ornithology and ethnology of the Bering Sea region. It relates to the redpolls, the most abundant and entertaining land-birds of Alaska, where it would be a surprisingly hard heart that was not touched by their companionship as winter closes down on a dreary landscape of snow-drifts. Let me quote Mr. Nelson’s words:

At this season the stars seem each to hang from the firmament by an invisible cord, and twinkle clear and bright overhead. The sharp, querulous yelp of the white fox alone breaks the intense stillness. A white, frosty fog hangs in the air—the chilled breath of nature—which falls silently to the ground in the lovely crystal handiwork of northern genii. In the north a pale auroral arch moves its mysterious banners, and the rounding bosom of the earth, chill under its white mantle, looks dreary and sad. After such a night the sun seems to creep reluctantly above the horizon, as though loath to face the bitter cold. The smoke rises slowly and heavily in the fixed atmosphere, and warm rooms are doubly appreciated.

Soon small troops of these little redpolls come ... flitting about the houses on all sides, examining the bare spots on the ground, searching the old weeds and fences, clinging to the eaves, and even coming to the window-sills, whence they peer saucily in, making themselves continually at home, and receiving a hearty welcome for their cheering presence. The breast is now a beautiful peach-blossom pink, and the crown shining scarlet. How this bird came to bear these beautiful colors is told in one of the Indian myths ... which begins thus:

Very long ago the whole of mankind was living in cheerless obscurity. Endless night hid the face of the world, and men were without the power of making a fire, as all the fire of the world was in the possession of a ferocious bear living in a far-off country to the north. The bear guarded his charge with unceasing vigilance, and so frightful was his appearance that no man dared attempt to obtain any of the precious substance. While the poor Indians were sorrowing over their misfortunes the redpoll, which at that time was a plain little wood-sparrow, dressed in ordinary dull brown, heard their plaint—for in those days men and beasts understood one another,—and his heart was touched. He prepared himself for a long journey and set out toward the lodge of the cruel bear. After many adventures ... he reached the place, and by a successful ruse stole a living ember from the perpetual fire which glowed close under the breast of the savage guardian, and flew away back with it in his beak. The glow of the coal was reflected from his breast and crown, while his forehead became slightly burned. Far away he flew, and finally arrived safely at the home of mankind, and was received with great rejoicing.

He gave the fire to the grateful people and told them to guard it well; and as he did so they noticed the rich glow on his breast and brow, and said: “Kind bird, wear forever that beautiful mark as a memento of what you have done for us;” and to this day the redpoll wears this badge in proof of the legend, as all may see, and mankind has ever since had fire.

One might gather a considerable collection of historical anecdotes relating to birds that in one way or another aided the Indians of old to obtain or to preserve fire, and some of them are noted incidentally elsewhere in this volume; but few are as poetic and entertaining as Mr. Nelson’s contribution.

The late Charles G. Leland found among the Algonkins of Maine and eastward a great number of tales that he put into his books. One or two of them are about birds, and these he threw into verse and published them in a volume entitled _Kuloskap the Master_.[91] The longest and most romantic of these is the love-story of the Leaf for the Red Bird (scarlet tanager), quoted in part below:

In the earliest time on the greatest mountain Lived merry Mipis, the little leaf ... Listens all day to the birds and the breezes, And goes to sleep to the song of the owl.

Merry Mipis on a bright May morning Was stretching himself in the warm sunshine When he heard afar a wonderful music, A sound like a flute and the voice of a maiden, Rippling melodies melting in one. Never before had he heard such singing. Then looking up he beheld before him A beautiful merry little bird-girl, Dressed in garments of brilliant scarlet, Just like his own in the Indian summer. “O fairest of small birds,” said merry Mipis, “Who are you, and what is your name?” Thus she answered: “I am Squ’tes, The Little Fire.... I have lived in the deep green forest, Even as you have for many ages, Singing my songs to K’musom’n, Unto our Father the mighty mountain; And, because he well loved my music, For a reward he sent me hither To seek a youth whose name is Mipis, Whom he wills that I should wed.”

This unexpected and rather unmaidenly avowal rather startled Mipis, and made him suspicious of some trickery, despite the attraction of her charm; but Squ’tes, “never heeding what the leaf thought,” began again—

Pouring out in the pleasant sunshine Her morning song. As Mipis listened To the melodious trill he melted; For the sweet tune filled all the forest, Every leaf on the tree was listening.... And as the music grew tender and stronger, And as in one long soft note it ended, Little Leaf said to her: “Be my own.” So in the greenwood they lived together.

One day both go to the Mountain and thank him for their happiness; and in the course of the visit the grandsire warns them not to go away from the Mountain, for dangers fill the outside world, thus:

The little Indian boy Monimquess, Who, armed with a terrible bow and arrows, Shoots all of the little birds of the forest;

and—

Aplasemwesit, the Little Whirlwind, Who never rests. He is always trying To blow the leaves away from the branches.

So they built their nest on the great tree that grew “in the safest place in all the mountain,” and for a time continued in bliss; but Mipis could see from their lofty home a far, beautiful country, and wanted to visit it. So Red Bird took the discontented Little Leaf in her bill and bore him away into the delightful lowland, where again they built a home; but here the Indian boy heard the wonderful singing, and shot the singer, and Little Whirlwind seized Mipis and took him to his grandsire, the Storm, who resolved to keep Mipis as a prisoner. That night the Mountain dreamed of this, and sent his son to demand Mipis, and the Storm gave him up, so that soon Little Leaf was back on his safe mountain-tree—but he lived in lonely grief.

His life was gone with the Little Fire, And the fire of his life was all in ashes.

How then had it fared with the lost Red Bird? When she fell under the boy’s arrow she was not killed but sorely wounded; and when the young Indian carried her home, very proud of his prize, his grandsire said truly that the bird must be kept captive. Red Bird recovered rapidly, and one morning Monimquess was dismayed to hear her singing as loudly as possible, “like a brook to sunshine,” as he thought, for he knew she was trying to make herself heard by the Mountain, and that if she succeeded destruction would be hurled upon the wigwam. At last, wearied with anxious thinking—

Down by the fire he lay on a bearskin Smoking himself into silent sleep. The door was closed, nor was there a crevice Through which the Red Bird could creep to freedom, When all at once she thought of the opening Through which the smoke from the fire ascended, Ever upward so densely pouring Nobody dreamed she would dare to pass it.

As the head of Monimquess drooped on his shoulder.... Softly the Red Bird rose, and taking A birchen bucket filled it with water. Dipping her wing in the water she sprayed it Little by little upon the fire. Little by little the fire, like Monimquess, Sank to sleep, and the bright red flame Lay down to rest in the dull gray ashes. Out of the smoke-hole, in careful silence, Flitted Squ’tes....

So the lovers were reunited. Then

... Squ’tes and Mipis Lived all the summer upon the mountain, Sung in its shadows and shone in the sunshine. Still as of yore they are singing and shining; And so it will be while the mountain is there.

A very curious feature of this delicate romance, which reminds one of the love-story of the Nightingale and the Rose, is the transposition of sex. To our minds it would seem natural that the bird, as the most active of the two characters, should take the male part and the leaf the other; and it is false to fact that Red Bird, as a female, should _sing_. The Indians must have known that this was unnatural, yet their poetic sense arranged it otherwise, just as the poets have pictured the nightingale pressing _her_ breast against a thorn, yet singing, as only male birds do!

Elsewhere I have shown how important a part the loon plays in the mythology and fireside tales of the redmen of the Northeastern region of our country and that of the Great Lakes. To the Algonkins of Maine and eastward this bird was the messenger of their great hero Glooscap, or Kuloskap, as Leland spells it with careful accuracy when writing in the language of the Pasamaquoddies; and he has told in verse the story of how this service was accepted by the willing bird. One day when Kuloskap was pursuing the gigantic magician, Winpe, his enemy, a flock of loons came circling near him, and to his question to their leader: “What is thy will, O Kwimu?” the loon replied: “I fain would be thy servant, thy servant and thy friend.” Then the Master taught the loons a cry, a strange, prolonged cry, like the howl of a dog when he calls to the moon, or when, far away in the forest, he seeks to find his master; and he instructed them to utter this weird summons whenever they required him.

Now it came to pass long after, the Master in Uktakumkuk (The which is Newfoundland) came to an Indian village, And all who dwelt therein were Kwimuuk, who had been Loons in the time before. And now they were very glad As men to see once more the Master, who had blessed them When they were only birds. Therefore he made them his huntsmen. Also his messengers. Hence comes that in all the stories Which are told of the mighty Master the loons are ever his friends; And the Indians, when they hear the cry of the loons, exclaim: “Kimu elkomtuejul Kuloskapul”—the Loon is calling Kuloskap, the Master.

Leith Adams[103] says: “Stories are told”—among the Micmacs in New Brunswick—“how the snowy owl still laments the Golden Age when man and all animals lived in perfect amity until it came to pass that they began to quarrel; when the great Glooscap, or Gotescarp, got disgusted and sailed across the seas to return when they made up their differences. So every night the owl repeats to this day his _Koo, koo, skoos_. ‘Oh, I am sorry, Oh, I am sorry.’”

A quaint little legend comes from the Tillamooks, whose home was formerly on the Oregon coast, where the tides do not rise very much. In the beginning of the world, it teaches, the crow had a voice like that of the thunder-bird, and the thunder-bird the voice of a crow. The latter proposed to exchange voices. The crow agreed to this, but demanded that in return the thunder-bird give her low water along the seashore, so that she might more easily gather the clams and other mussels, which was a part of a Tillamook woman’s daily task. The thunder-bird therefore made the water draw back a very long distance. But when the crow went out on the waste of sea-bottom she saw so many marine monsters that she was frightened, and begged the thunder-bird not to make the waters recede so far; and that is the reason that now but little ocean-bottom is exposed at ebb tide on the Oregon coast.

The Gualala Indians were a tribe of the great Pomo family that half a century ago dwelt happily in the northwestern corner of Sonoma County, California, and their staple food was the flour of crushed and filtered acorns of several kinds of oaks. In their country, as elsewhere in that State, the California woodpecker (_Melanerpes_) is a very common bird, which has the habit of drilling numerous small holes in pines and other soft-wooded trees, and fixing in each an acorn—a method of storing its favorite food against a time of famine. The Indians understood this very well, and in times of scarcity of food in camp they would cut down the small trees and climb the big ones, and rob the cupboards of the far more provident birds. “And here,” says Powers,[19] “I will make mention of a kind of sylvan barometer.... These acorns are stored away before the rainy season sets in, sometimes to the amount of a half-bushel, and when they are wetted they presently swell and start out a little. So always, when a rainstorm is brewing, the woodpeckers fall to work with great industry a day or two in advance and hammer them in all tight. During the winter, therefore, whenever the woods are heard rattling with the pecking of these busy little commissary-clerks heading up their barrels of worms, the Indian knows a rainstorm is certain to follow.”

The Chippeway Indians, as Schoolcraft noted, account for the friendly spirit of the robin by relating that he was once a young brave whose father set him a task too cruel for his strength, and made him starve too long when he had reached man’s estate and had to go through the customary initiation-ceremonies. He turned into a robin, and said to his father: “I shall always be the friend of man and keep near their dwellings. I could not gratify your pride as a warrior, but I will cheer you by songs.”

This pretty fiction is noteworthy, when one recalls the many instances in Greek and European myths and poetry of men and women transforming themselves into birds.

The Cherokees had an interesting story about the wren, always a busybody. She gets up early in the morning, they say, pries into everything, and goes around to every lodge in the settlement to get news for the birds’ council. When a new baby is born she finds out whether it is a boy or a girl, and reports to the council. If it is a boy the birds sing in mournful chorus: “Alas! The whistle of the arrow! My shins will burn,” for the birds know that when the boy grows older he will hunt them with his blowgun and arrows, and roast them on a stick. But if the baby is a girl they are glad, and sing: “Thanks! The sound of the pestle! At her home I shall surely be able to scratch where she sweeps,” because they know that after a while they will be able to pick up stray grains where she beats the corn into meal.[104]

In the myths or folklore of the Pawnees a character in several tales, as related by Grinnell,[105] is a little bird, smaller than a pigeon. “Its back is blue, but its breast white, and its head is spotted. It flies swiftly over the water, and when it sees a fish it dives down into the water to catch it. This bird is a servant or a messenger for the Nahurac.” The Nahurac are an assemblage of imaginary animals by whom many wonderful things are done; and it communicates to living men their wishes or orders, and acts as a guide when men are summoned to come or go somewhere. But this is perilously near the purely mythical, and it is mentioned only as an example of the widespread conception of birds as messengers and interpreters.

I hope I may be pardoned if I add to this group of Indian bird-stories one or two told in the Negro cabins of North Carolina, and probably elsewhere, and written down in Volume XI of the American _Folk-Lore Journal_, among many other tales of the out-door creatures to which the rural darkies like to attribute human attributes, and to use as puppets in their little comedies of animal life, which are likely to be keen satires on humanity. The one to be quoted is a parable of how Ann Nancy (a spider) got caught in a tight place by Mr. Turkey Buzzard, and how she escaped, for Mr. Buzzard was going to eat her.

“But,” says the narrator, “she beg so hard, and compliment his fine presence, and compare how he sail in the clouds while she ’bliged to crawl in the dirt, till he that proudful and set up he feel mighty pardonin’ spirit, and he let her go.”

Ann Nancy, however, did not enjoy the incident, and “jess study constant how she gwine get the best of every creeter,” and particularly of the tormenting bird.

“She knew Mr. Buzzard’s weak point am he stomach, and one day she make it out dat she make a dining, and ’vite Mr. Buzzard an’ Miss Buzzard an’ de chillens. Ann Nancy she know how to set out a dinin’ fo’ sure, and when dey all got sot down to the table, an’ she mighty busy passin’ the hot coffee to Mr. Buzzard an’ the little Buzzards, she have a powerful big pot o’ scalding water ready, and she lip it all over poor ol’ Mr. Buzzard’s haid, and the po’ ol’ man done been baldhaided from that day.

“An’ he don’t forget on Ann Nancy, ’cause you ’serve she de onliest creeter on the topside the earth what Mr. Buzzard don’t eat.”

LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO

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2. YOUNG, MARTHA. Plantation Bird Legends. (New York, 1902.)

3. WORCESTER, DEAN. The Philippines. (New York, 1901.)

4. BRINTON, DANIEL G. The Religions of Primitive Peoples. (New York, 1897.)

5. DORSEY, J. OWEN. Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, 1884–5. (Washington, 1888.)

6. MCGEE, W. J. The Seri Indians, in Report U. S. Bureau Ethnology, 1895–6, Part I.

7. SKEAT, WILLIAM W. Malay Magic. (London, 1900.)

8. GAY, JOHN. Poems. The Shepherd’s Week. (Boston, 1854.)

9. HIGGINSON, THOMAS W. Army Life in a Black Regiment. (Boston, 1870.)

10. SWANN, JAMES G. The Northwest Coast. (New York, 1857.)

11. FRIEND, HENRY. Flowers and Flower Lore. (London, 1883.)

12. SPENCE, LEWIS. Myths of the North American Indians. (London, 1914.)

13. DOUGHTY, CHARLES M. Wanderings in Arabia. (London, 1908.)

14. KEANE, JOHN F. T. Six Months in the Hejaz. (London, 1887.)

15. LAYARD, EDWARD L. The Birds of South Africa. (London, 1875–6.)

16. CANDLER, EDMUND. The Unveiling of Lhasa. (London, 1905.)

17. TYLOR, EDWARD B. Primitive Culture. (New York, 1920.)

18. KAY, CHARLES DE. Bird Gods of Ancient Europe. (New York, 1898.)

19. POWERS, STEPHEN. The Tribes of California. (Washington, 1877.)

20. MARTINENGO-CAESARESCO, COUNTESS E. L. The Place of Animals in Human Thought. (London, 1909.)

21. BARING-GOULD, SABINE. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. (London, 1867.)

22. BROWN, ABBIE F. Book of Saints and Kindly Beasts. (Boston, 1900.) Consult also “Lives” of St. Francis of Assisi.

23. WARD, WILLIAM HAYES. Seal Wonders of Western Asia. (Carnegie Institution, No. 100.)

24. BAYLEY, HAROLD. The Lost Language of Symbolism. (London, 1913.)

25. DALTON, EDWARD T. Byzantine Art and Architecture.

26. Sacred Books of the East, Pahlavi Texts, Vol. XXIV, 112.

27. BRINTON, DANIEL G. Myths of the New World. (New York, 1868.) See also his American Hero Myths (1882).

28. OSWALD, FELIX. Zoological Sketches. (Philadelphia, 1883.)

29. ROTHERY, G. C. A B C of Heraldry. (Philadelphia, 1915.)

30. MALLET, PAUL H. Northern Antiquities. (London, 1890.)

31. GROSVENOR, EDWIN A. Constantinople. (Boston, 1895.)

32. GOLDSMITH, OLIVER. A History of the Earth and Animated Nature. (London, 1774.)

33. BROWNE, SIR THOMAS. Inquiry into Vulgar Errors. (London, 1846.)

34. BREWER, E. C. Handbooks, particularly “Phrase and Fable.”

35. WALLACE, ALFRED RUSSEL. The Malay Archipelago. (New York, 1869.)

36. LEE, HENRY. Sea Fables Explained. (London, 1884.)

37. COOK, ARTHUR B. Zeus. (Cambridge, Eng., 1914.)

38. HULME, F. EDWARD. Natural History Lore and Legend. (London, 1895.)

39. WALKER, MARGARET C. Bird Legends and Life. (New York, 1908.)

40. WALTON, ISAAK. The Compleat Angler. (London, 100th Edition, 1888.)

41. ARISTOTLE. History of Animals. (London, Bohn, 1862.)

42. HARTING, J. E. The Ornithology of Shakespeare. (London, 1871). Compare Thiselton-Dyer’s Folk Lore of Shakespeare.

43. HANAUER, J. E. Tales Told in Palestine. (Cincinnati, 1904.)

44. HUDSON, W. H. Birds of La Plata. (London, 1920.)

45. WHITE, GILBERT. Natural History of Selborne.

46. WILSON, ALEXANDER. North American Ornithology. (New York, 1853.)

47. SWANN, H. KIRKE. A Dictionary of English and Folk Names of British Birds. (London, 1913.) It contains a useful bibliography, and quotes largely from the Rev. C. Swainson’s Folk Lore and Provincial Names of British Birds (English Dialect Society, 1886.)

48. ST. JOHNSTON, LT.-COL. T. R. The Islanders of the Pacific. (London, 1921.)

49. LYLY, JOHN. Euphues, or the Anatomy of Wit. (London, 1868.)

50. COUES, ELLIOTT. Birds of the Northwest. (Washington, 1874.)

51. CRUDEN, ALEXANDER. A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures.

52. LAUFER, BERTHOLD. Bird Divination among the Thibetans. (Leiden, 1914.)

53. MILLER, LEO. In the Wilds of South America. (New York, 1918.)

54. GUBERNATIS, ANGELO DE. Zoological Mythology. (New York, 1872.)

55. NEWTON, ALFRED. Dictionary of Birds. (London, 1896.)

56. CONWAY, MONCURE D. The Wandering Jew. (New York, 1881.) See also his Solomonic Literature (Chicago, 1899.)

57. WATTERS, JOHN J. The Birds of Ireland. (Dublin, 1853.)

58. SYKES, ELLA. Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia. (London, 1914.)

59. SALE, GEORGE. The Koran (Alcoran of Mohammed.) (London, 1825.)

60. WILDE, LADY JANE F. Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland. (London, 1902.)

61. SMITH, HORATIO. Festivals. (New York, 1836.)

62. WENTZ, W. Y. The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries. (London, 1911.)

63. JENNER, MRS. HENRY. Christian Symbolism. (London, 1910.)

64. O’CONNOR, VINCENT C. Travels in the Pyrenees. (London, 1913.)

65. BASSETT, FLETCHER S. Legends and Superstitions of the Sea. (Chicago, 1888.)

66. ELWORTHY, F. T. The Evil Eye. (London, 1895.)

67. GOSTLING, FRANCES M. P. Rambles about the Riviera. (New York, 1914.) See also her books about the French chateaux, and the Bretons.

68. BALL, MRS. KATHERINE M. Decorative Motives in Oriental Art. In _Japan_ (magazine), New York, 1922.

69. DRYDEN, JOHN. Ovid’s Metamorphoses: “Transformation of Syrinx.” (Boston, 1854.)

70. BENDIRE, MAJOR CHARLES. Life Histories of North American Birds, Vol. I. (Washington, Smithsonian Institution, 1892.)

71. MACBAIN, ALEXANDER. Celtic Mythology and Religion. (Stirling, 1917.)

72. FRAZER, SIR J. G. Golden Bough (series). The Scapegoat (1913).

73. WATERTON, CHARLES. Essays (London, 1870). Also Wanderings in South America. (New York, 1910.)

74. SQUIRE. Mythology of the British Isles. (London, 1905.)

75. LANCIANI, RODOLPH A. Pagan and Christian Rome. (Boston, 1893.)

76. WILLIAMS, SAMUEL W. The Middle Kingdom. (New York, 1883.)

77. MOONEY, JAMES. Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. XIV, 1892–3.

78. BRODERIP, W. J. Zoological Recreations. (London, 1849.)

79. NUTTALL, THOMAS. Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada. (Cambridge, 1832.)

80. HEATON, MRS. JOHN L. By-Paths in Sicily. (New York, 1920.)

81. IRBY, COL. HOWARD L. Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar. (London, 1875.)

82. JONES, W. Credulities Past and Present. (London, 1877.)

83. SWANTON, JOHN R. Report U. S. Bureau Ethnology, Vol. XXVI, 1904–5, p. 454.

84. HAZLITT, WILLIAM C. Dictionary of Faiths and Folklore. (London, 1895.)

85. STEVENSON, HAMILTON S. Animal Life in Africa. (London, 1912.)

86. MANAT, JAMES I. Ægean Days. (London, 1913.)

87. The Arabian Nights: Payne’s edition (London, 1901.)

88. COSTELLO, LOUIS S. The Rose Garden of Persia. (London, 1899), including “Flowers and Birds” by Azz’ Eddin Elmocadessi, “Jamshid’s Courtship” by Firdausi, and prose notes.

89. POLO, MARCO. Travels: Yule’s edition. (London, 1875.)

90. DAVIS, F. H. Myths and Legends of Japan. (N. Y., 1912.) Consult also Joly, Henri L. Legend in Japanese Art. (London, 1908.)

91. LELAND, CHARLES G. Kuloskap, the Master. (New York, 1902.)

92. THISELTON-DYER, THOMAS F. English Folklore. (London, 1878.) Consult also his Folk-lore of Plants, and his Folk Lore of Shakespeare.

93. FIRDAUSI. The Shah Nameh: Atkinson’s Translation. (London, 1886.)

94. PLUTARCH. Lives: Camillus, Romulus, Alexander, Etc.

95. Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, Vol. viii, p. 80.

96. BOMBAUGH, C. C. Gleanings from the Harvest-Fields of Literature. (Baltimore, 1873.)

97. LELAND, CHARLES G. Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition. (London, 1892.)

98. FISKE, JOHN. Myths and Myth-Makers. (Boston, 1872.)

99. KEITH, GEORGE. Letters: in Les Bourgeis de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest. (Quebec, 1889.)

Footnote 100:

NIBLACK, ALBERT P. Report U. S. National Museum, 1888.

Footnote 101:

NELSON, EDWARD W. Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. (Washington, 1883.)

Footnote 102:

SCHOOLCRAFT, HENRY G. Algic Researches. (New York, 1839.)

Footnote 103:

ADAMS, A. LEITH. Field and Forest Rambles. (London, 1873.)

Footnote 104:

MOONEY, JAMES. Report U. S. Bureau Ethnology, Vol. XIX, 1897–8, p. 401.

Footnote 105:

GRINNELL, GEORGE BIRD. Pawnee Hero-Stories and Folk-Tales. (New York, 1889.)

Footnote 106:

FORTIER, ALCE. Stories and Folk-Tales. (New York, 1889). Also, Louisiana Folk-Tales. (Boston, 1885.)

Footnote 107:

JAMESON, MRS. ANNA B. History of our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art. (London, 1872). See also her Legends of the Monastic Orders (1872), and her Sacred and Legendary Art (1911).

Footnote 108:

VERRALL, MARGARET DE G. Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens. (London, 1890.)

Footnote 109:

DIODORUS SICULUS. Historical Library.

Footnote 110:

VILLARI, PASQUALE. The Barbarian Invasion of Italy. (New York, 1902.)

Footnote 111:

FOX-DAVIES, ARTHUR C. Complete Guide to Heraldry. (London, 1909.)

Footnote 112:

PERROT AND CHIPIEZ. History of Art in Antiquity: Vol. IV, Sardinia and Judea.

Footnote 113:

Seal of the United States: How it was Developed and Adopted. (Washington, Department of State, 1892.)

INDEX

Abbey, founded by birds, 269

Adjutant Stork, stone in head of, 96

Aetites, or eagle-stone, 96

Albatross, raft-nest of, 76

Alectorius, a magic stone, 95

Alectromancy, 217

American eagle, 36

Ani, or Black Witch, see _Jumbiebird_.

Anka, mythical bird, 198

Arabian mythical birds, 193, 196

Ark, messengers from the, 99

Arthur, King, becomes a raven, 163

Arvenus, legend of Lake, 78

Asbestos, a bird’s skin, 195

Augury and Auspice defined, 214

Babes in the Wood, story, 116

Bennu, a sun-symbol, 195

Bestiaries described, 58

Bird-myths, origin of, 226, 253

Bird-of-Paradise, legends of, 63

Bird-superstitions rare in United States, 7

Birds, alleged hibernation of, 89

Birds as “Openers,” 249–253

Birds as pilots, 161

Birds as spirits, 10, 25, 189

Birds associated with monks and hermits, 262–271

Birds becoming gods, 18

Birds changing into other birds, 92

Birds connected with Lightning, 242–253

Birds, fabulous, explained, 202, 208, 226

Birds, lucky and unlucky, 25

Birds of Assyrian seals, 202

Birds of the Bosphorus, 16

Birds riding on bigger birds, 81

Birds transport souls, 190

Birds, variety of accounted for, 226–241

Bittern, breast-light of, 79

Blackbird, red-winged, 239

Blackbirds blackened by Raven, 229

Blackbirds once white, 233

Bluebird, mountain, 23, 240

Blue jay, legend of, 240

Bluejay visits the Devil, 166

Brahminy duck, sacred in Thibet, 18

Buffon denies song to American birds, 78

Bulbul, Persian nightingale, 48

Butcher-bird, alleged trick of, 79

Buzzard, turkey, features of, 227, 236, 241, 284

Chickens as weather-prophets, 221

Chickens used in augury, 216, 223

Chimney swift, Josselyn’s account of, 62

Chouans, named from owl’s cry, 187

Cinamros, Persian myth, 205

Cock, alectorius of, 96

Cock, as Gaulish emblem, 44

Cock, barnyard, a sun-bird, 218

Cock, Christian legends of, 109, 151

Cock, stoned on Shrove Tuesday, 123

Cormorants, legends of, 228, 231

Cranes carry away girl, 237

Crane’s foot, origin, 170

Cranes transport small birds, 83

Cranes war with Pygmies, 94

Crocodile-bird, legend of, 60

Crossbill, Christian legend of, 113

Crow, Chinese three-legged, 172

Crow, formerly white, 233

Crow, hooded, dread of, 165

Crow in Ghost Dance, 176

Crow, omens from, 213

Crows’-feet at eyes, 170

Crows visit the Devil, 166

Cuckoos as rain-prophets, 223

Cupid of the Gaels, 3

Curassow, legend of, 170

David beguiled by a pigeon, 259

Deluges, birds connected with, 98–108

Demonic birds, 52, 205

Devil’s birds, 166

Direction, element in divination, 8, 175, 213

Divination by birds, 212–217; trifled with, 257, 258

Dove and the Holy Grail, 137

Dove as bird of peace, 140

Dove, Christian legends of, 113, 139

Dove guides Cortez’s ship, 138

Dove instructs Pope Gregory, 133

Dove of St. Remi, 133, 137

Dove, revered in Islam, 135

Dove saves Genghis Khan, 141

Dove sent from the Ark, 101

Dove, symbol of Holy Ghost, 133, 134, 138

Dove, symbol of Ishtar, 127–132

Doves at Dodona, 130

Doves in Jewish sacrifice, 140

Doves in Solomonic legends, 259

Doves, prophetic, 5–9

Eagle, double-headed, 29, 33, 52

Eagle, emblem of St. John, 149

Eagle, golden, or war, 24, 35

Eagle, imperial, 30

Eagle-lecterns, origin of, 149

Eagle, legends of, 97

Eagle, Mexican harpy, 38

Eagle, myths about, 68, 73, 76

Eagle of Lagash, 28

Eagles, omens from, 213

Eagle-stone, or aetites, 96

Easter eggs, customs explained, 124

Eggs in mosques and churches, 54

Eskimo bird-tales, 273, 274

Fairies traced to Morrigu, 165

Falcon, symbolism of, 150

Feng-whang. See _Fung-whang_.

Fish-hawk, legend of, 80

France, popular emblem of, 41–46

Franklin compares eagle and turkey, 37

Fung-whang, Chinese myth, 207

Garuda, Hindoo myth, 206

Gaul, name explained, 41

Genghis Khan saved by owl, 186

Ghost Dance explained, 177

Goatsuckers, cries of dreaded, 6, 15

Goldfinch, Christian legend of, 113

Goose and golden eggs, 66

Goose-bone fable, 222

Goose, golden Capitoline, 255

Goose growing on trees, 64

Goose in Buddhist myth, 67

Grebe, legend of, 240

Green fowl, Mohammedan, 15

Grouse, marks on ruffed, 238

Guan, legend of, 107

Guatemala, emblem of, 39

Guillemots, origin of, 237

Gulls offend Giant, 234

Hair, superstitions about, 9

Halcyon days, meaning of, 22

Harpies, Sirens, etc., 193

Hibernation of birds, 89

Ho-ho, Japanese myth, 208

Hoopoe, legends of, 153, 250, 261

Hornbill, superstitions about, 16

Hummingbird, hibernation of, 90

Hummingbird, riding a crane, 81

Hummingbird, voice lost, 241

Indian poetic story, 275–279

Jackdaw of Rheims, 157

Jay, Canada, gives warning, 4

Jumbie-bird, Ani, or Black Witch, 189

Kamar, Persian myth, 206

Karshipta, Persian myth, 206

King, choice of by birds, 82, 206

Kingbird, riding a hawk, 81

Kingfisher, halcyon myth, 20, 234–239

Kingfisher, sent from the Ark, 102

Kiskadee, legend of, 239

Kite, Egyptian legend of, 151

Lapwing and Covenanters, 256

Lark, Laverock, funereal, 115

Legend, definition of, 254

Lightning attributed to birds, 243–253

Loon, origin of its cry, 279

Lucky birds, 25

Macaw as fire-bird, 41

Magpie, portents by, 171

Mexico, national emblem, 38

Migrating birds carried by others, 81–88

Migration to the moon, 91

Moccasin flower legend, 6

Monks, medieval and birds, 262–271

Morrigu and her crows, 165

Nightingale, myths and legends, 48, 50

Number, important in divination, 8, 171

Nuns of Whitby, 88

Odin’s ravens, 150

Omens trifled with, 257, 258

Ornithomancy, origin of, 5

Osage Indians, bird ancestry, 11

Osprey, legend of, 80

Ostrich eggs, use of, 54

Ostrich, errors pertaining to, 54

Ostrich plumes, symbolism, 153

Owein’s ravens, 162

Owl, a Baker’s daughter, 121

Owl a monarch’s daughter, 183

Owl, Athenian, 180

Owl in medieval medicine, 185

Owl once a singer, 112

Owl once an Eskimo girl, 233

Owl saves heroes, 186, 258

Owls, Christian legends of, 121

Owls, superstitions about, 181, 187, 213, 258

Oystercatcher, why blessed, 112

Palm, associated with phenix, 198

Paradise-birds, 63, 64

Peacock feathers, indicate rank, 144

Peacock, feathers, superstitions, 148

Peacock, saves Chinese general, 187

Peacocks, legends of, 141–147

Pelican, errors pertaining to, 58

Pelican, Seri ancestor, 11

Pelican, symbolism of, 147

Pharaoh’s chicken, 34

Pheasant, Argus, painted, 233

Phenix as a Christian symbol, 196

Phenix described, 191

Pigeons in church feasts, 125

Pigeons of Venice, 125

Pigeon shrine near Yarkand, 136

Polynesian bird-gods, 19

Quails, Israelitish legend, 93

Quetzal-bird, 39

Rabbit and Easter eggs, 124

Rain-birds described, 223

Rara avis (swan), 46

Raven as culture-hero, 228–234

Raven, characteristics of, 134

Raven, Dickens’s “Grip,” 156

Raven dresses the birds, 228

Raven feeds Elijah, 158

Raven feeds hermits, 164

Raven flag of Danes, 159

Raven, ghostly, 164

Raven, Mosaic view of, 158

Raven, myths concerning, 72, 105, 248

Raven once white, 168, 232

Raven, portents by, 169, 173, 213

Raven saves body of St. Vincent, 164

Raven sent from the Ark, 100

Raven’s Hill and Barbarossa, 163

Ravens, Odin’s messengers, 150

Redbreast, Christian legends of, 114

Redbreast covers corpses, 116

Redpoll, bringing fire, 274

Rhea, errors concerning, 55

Robin, American, singing, 282

Robin, European. See _Redbreast_.

Roc (Rukh), Sinbad’s discovery, 200

Sacred birds explained, 16, 24

Sagehen, Paiute story of, 106

Salamander as a bird, 196

Scapegoats among birds, 25

Scarlet bird of Taoists, 207

Schamir, Solomonic legend, 249

Seal of United States, 36

Semiramis, story of, 128

Sentinel-birds, stories of, 254, 256

Seven Whistlers, 13, 89

Shrike, errors regarding, 79

Shrove Tuesday customs, 123

Simurgh, Persian myth, 205

Smell, sense in birds, 75

Snow-owl blackens raven, 232

Souls brought by birds, 12

Souls carried away by birds, 13, 139, 148

Sparrow in Christian legends, 112

Speech by birds, 3, 10, 13

Stones possessed by birds, 95

Stork, as a migrant, 92

Stork, legends of, 112, 153

Stymphalia, birds of, 192, 194

Swallow, Eskimo origin of, 238

Swallow in Christian legends, 112

Swallow, omens from, 25, 213, 218

Swallow restores blindness, 96

Swan, black (rara avis), 47

Swan, death song, 76

Swan, omens from, 213

Symplegades, legend of, 131

Thibetan divination, 174

Thunder-birds described, 243–248, 281

Thunder Cape, name explained, 245

Trochilus legend, 60

Trogon, or quetzal-bird, 39

Trumpeter, legends of, 107, 239

Tulare, legend of lake, 108

Turkey, Franklin’s preference, 37

Turkey, Indian legend of, 106

Vulture, baldness explained, 227, 236, 241

Vulture, omens from, 213

Vulture revered in Egypt, 151

Vultures, Persian, 207

Vulture, Turkey. See _Buzzard_.

Wagtail, Ainu legend of, 103

War-eagle, American Indian, 35

Weathercocks explained, 151

Weather prognostics by birds, 217, 219, 282

Whippoorwill as a prophet, 5, 6

Winds as birds, 203, 206, 249

Woodpecker, Californian, 281

Woodpecker, magical powers of, 250

Woodpecker, redheaded, 23, 106, 235, 241

Wren, Cherokee story of, 282

Wren, hunting of in Ireland, 118

Yel, culture-hero, 230

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. P. 229, changed “l’epervier” to “l’épervier”. 2. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 3. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 4. Footnotes have been re-indexed using letters. 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.