Wichita eagle., 1888-06-29
FANCIES ABOUT BIRDS.
SOME OF THE QUEER SUPERsTl.
TONS OF CoLoRED PEOPLE.


TONS OF CoLoRED PEOPLE.
Legend TeIlers-Folk Lore Concerning
Feathered Songsters-Dove, Partridge,
Robin, Jay Bird and "Shiverin' Owl"
How many queer fancies the negroes
have about birds! To them every feath.
cred songster makes representation
either of good or evil to befall the believer
in signs
Dusky legend tellers relate how the
white dove few out of the Ark and was the
first living thing to find land after the
great food They augment the old story by
saying that on that land did the dove, for
love of man, plant the first grain Of corn
They bless the gentle bird for giving that
strongest staff Of life to the laborer, that
which they cali In their quaint fancy for
personifcat;on: Friend John Constant,
ode good corn meal dat stands by you
constant" It was the mourning dove
who brought the world another great
blessing; with her tender bill she dug for
man the first springs. To him who hears
the FIRST doves note IN the new spring
time, good or bad luck is portended. as
the nearer happens to be going up or down
a hia when the tender complaining strikes
his ear.
A pocletful of money and q crib full Of
corn at the end of the year await the man
who. walking level road, hears the
doves cooling, if he comply with the fol-
lowing condition: to step three steps after
hearing the first note. then to lie down
and roll over his three last tracks
A mighty '1ove powder" Is thought by
dark damsels to be made Of parched and
powdered doves heart. Not afew negroes
believe that troubles will follow him who
kills dove. The mourning dove is said
to mourn for passing soul
CONCERNING BIRDS EGGS
The partridge fears to frequent the
ground oft trod by man, hence crises tho
belief that death will come to some
dweIler in a cabin near which is heard the
partridge's shrill whistle. Lucky is he
who finds the nest of the Industrious
partridge, for these are birds eggs that
can be eaten without fear Of evil conse-
quences.
But let no person who loves home eat
the egg of the blue bird, for thateg gives
to the eater thereof ar insatiate desire to
run away-always TO run away. Days
full of sunshine will invite him to wander;
DAYS of clouds and rain will demand him
to leave the warm home hearth; always to
slip away somewhere from familiar places
and well loved faces Woe to him who
eats hooking birds egg; the penalty
attached to the eating thereof is to tell
all, an maybe MON you know" The
eater of kiIldeeis egg will surely there
after break his arm.
1t was the bright. restless little robin
that planted on old earth the first one Of
the many cedars that now shake their
plumes on a Thousand hills
1t was the pert jay bird that brought in
his bill the first grit of dirt" to the
world: whence he few with it legend fails
to inform For certain space on Friday
noon. say the manlmies. no jay is to be
seen on the whole face of the earth
Whys They go to the under world to
carry to the King Of that realm grain of
sand Whether this is punishment for
the bringing Of that first grit" no aunty
will tell. but she will assert most posi-
lively that the jays do certainly leave our
world at precisely o'clock on Friday
morning. and are back promptly at /
o'clock Of that same day
LUCK AND A LOVER
Lucky is the dusky maid who sees red
bird when she Is not on the lookout for
one She must make no mention of hav-
ing seen the pretty fellow, but discreetly
go about her business. maxim no mira
ton at all" II this condition is complied
with she will see her sweetheart before tho
sun is down If the bird seen Is bright
red, her lover viii come in happy mood; II
pale is the color of the bird, her lover viii
show himself Ill tempered.
Never bring out Of wild birds nest .
young one to strive to rear It In . house
where people live. for tho bird win surely
die, and no less certainly viii the super.
stitious ones regard this death Is ''can"
for some loved inmate of that dwelling to
die also.
The rain crow cries for rain. There are
many jolly dialect songs about the crow.
The negroes seem to consider him quite
smart fellow. One Of them, q black one
with white feafhers uncer hfa wi,, ra Ia q