The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-25
SOME BIRDS OF ILL OMEN.
What Is Indicated by Different ways
of Seeing the Raven.
From the Chicago Times-Herald

From the Chicago Times Herald
II you see a crow or raven on your
left hand do not bet on the races That
is good advice under any circumstances.
but the ebon bird will make assurance of
your loss doubly sure How long ago GER
tain of the winged wanderers of the up
per air became birds of i'll omen no man
may say. They were so regarded before
Homer's time. for the poet more than
once mentions the III luck that they
brought his heroes. 1t is a case of giving
a dog bad name. Harmless flyers dis
trusted by the ignorant ancients, are still
viewed with suspicion by people who
ought to know better A superstition is
harder to kill than an established daily
paper. Once the property of race, It will
outlast the race. Birds have paid the
penalty of being disagreeable Those of
brilliant plumage or voice are never re-
garded as foretellers of disaster One has
TO be ugly to be sinful Something of this
obtains also with humanity
The owl Is harmless. In nine cases out
OF ten he Is beneficial. But because he is
night prowler and has CHASTITY eyes
ana an uncanny voice for more than forty
centurities he has been regarded as a
child of Shetan. True, the Greeks liked
MIN and dedicated him to Minerva, and
made of him an emblem Of wisdom and
gave him the place of honor in many tenn
pies, but the Romans hated him with
power. Virgil, Ovid. Lucan and Claudian
nave harsh words TO say of him Pliny
wrote of him fearfully. He called the
horned owl "the minister of the night"
ana the slow beat of his wings above the
head OF laborer returning from the field
meant death or at least a short crop.
People who live on the prairies or in
the heart of the great American forests
know little about Pliny, but when the
screech owl sings under the waning moon
they huddle closer about the fire and
glance tearfuliy at each other. In case
there happens to be a sick person i'm the
house all hope is surrendered Many a
time when a child have seen the negroes
or a southern plantation crouch and
shiver as the eerie note cut through the
blackness outside. The authors of old
so worked upon the Roman popuIace that
members of the high-hearted legions that
carried the eagle 10 the uttermost con
nnes of the known world prayed fervent-
~ TO their many gods az the sight OF a
harmless brown bird with google eyes,
and once in the consulship, when an owl
flew into the capitol, Illustration was Or
dered that the people might make sacri-
fees to avert the threatened national ca
lamity
The hooting of the owl 500 years later
foretold the deaths of emperors. Consid-
erlng that the birds were plentiful and
Volceful and rulers were assassinated
with beautiful regularity 1t is not to be
wondered that the owl came to be looked
on as very much of a prophet. These coin
cldents were the originals of the white
horse and redheaded girl miracle. In time
the dread with which the owl was regard
ed was transferred In great measure to
the ravens. They foretold the death Of
Alexander the Great. flying about the
Macedonian's tent and returning stub
bornly, though driven away by the
guards. The always reliable Appian and
others tell how they pulled the coverlid
from the couch of Cicero a little while be-
fore the murder of the god of the forum.
They did not perch upon the head of Pom
pey statue ON the day that great Caesar
FELL but contemporaneous writer's assert
that more than twenty dark pnions waved
over the route to the spot of death The
old Romaic dread of the raven is seen
to-day in the dashing legions of the
French army many OF which carry this
bird into battle. "Ouida" makes dramatic
use of the habit in her 1urid tale of the
death grapple on the field of ZaraiIa.
spencer, Marston, Butler, the author Of
HudiDras," Drayton and Shakespeare
were all believers In the fatality of the
raven. Possibly the dread Of II crossed
the British channel with the Roman In.
vasion. Such things are far reaching.
Stiu Ia the west of England its croaktne
about the house presages death. In swe.
zen these onshoots Of the crow family
are believed 20 be the ghosts Of murdered
men. In that country the devil Is thought
TO be the especial protector Of the mag
pie, which also IS akin to the crow. The
Scotch have a rhyme about magples:
One is sorrow. two are mirth;
Ihree are wedding, four are birth.
Five are heaven, six are hell;
Seven are the devil himself.
The thievish habits Of the magpie and
MS inky cloak are responsible for his IN
repute. He Is sort Of feathered Napol.
con OF finance, and Will steal anything
from wedding ring to an old gum boot.
Growing hens are universally discs
teemed. The old couplet about "a whist
ling woman and a growing hen" Is well
known In fact this unjust and unpro-
phetie rhyme is common to all countries
and Is found IN many languages. Prob
ably its popularity is due 20 the fact that
confirmed whistlers of any sex ara hated
by the good. The cuckoo is another -blrd
OF Ill omen. IL brings bad luck to tue
home near which IT builds. In parts OF
the British Isles peasants will not under.
take a journey IL they see It early in the
morning
The cuckoo is also a thief. Dishonesty.
often condoned In unfeathered bipeds. "a
crime in birds, costing them reputation
and the enmity of all In ireland the Ut
terry inoffensive and very graceful sWal-
low Is called the DEVILS bird" but why
Is not known. In Scotland the yellow ham
mer fills this unenVlable role Il is I'M
lucky la Italy TO own doves Just before
marriage. Pigeons, too bring bad luck
to the house that feeds them. Rocks are
precursors Of mortality. Among the
dwellers in the English fens wild geese
are disliked for a singular reason: Their
night cries probably are the origin OF
the weird tale Of the Gabriel hounds
that ghostly pack which sweeps In fun
cry through the air at night and brings
death TO the inmates OF a house over
which u rushes. The geese In some way
are connected with them in for obloquy.
Southern negroes regard the jaybird with
comlcally grave distrust TO them ne IL
the counselor guide and friend OF the evil
one himself. The amount Of confidence es-
tablished ages and ages ago
between the devil and the tay-
bird Is to the African mind enormous
Plantation "uncles" and "auntles" believe