The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1899-10-25
STAIN ON THEIR NAMES.
BIRDS HELD IN EVIL REPUTE,
THOUGH HARMLESS.
How Some of the Foolish Ideas, which
DO Great Unjustness To the
Innocent Birds,
Originated.

Ihctc dIt SeNcIdi DlIus, pcllNSSiJ
harmless toward man, which have
ever been held in evil repute, merely,
1t would seem, from similar cause to
that which in former times invested
old women when of eccentric habits
or aspect with the character or
witches, and rendered them objects or
superstitious dread. The owl and the
| raven, that are much given to follow
: ing solitary walks In life, are in
stances In point. They have ever from
remote ages been ostracised as I'M
lucky birds, birds of ill-omen. and so
forth. The owl was so reckoned In
early Roman times, and the poet OVID
terms him 1.-THE unlucky fowl abhorred
by men, and called the screeching
owl" Virgil. too, speaks in like de-
predatory terms of the raven:
1.-The hoarse raven on the blasted
bough,
BY croaking from the left, presaged
the coming blow"
Martin Luther in one Of his writings
alludes in very severe terms to the ra-
ven, and we can all recall Poe's cele-
brated poem to which he gives his
name for title. The Romans, we learn,
had special officers, selected from the
patrician class, one OF whose duties IL
was to study the omens of the OWL
the crow, and other birds, and inter-
pref them to the people. Butler, in
"Hudibras," has well hit off this pro-
ceeding where he alludes to the RO-
man senate, when an owl was seen
within the city walls, causing the
priests with Illustrations to avert the
round-faced prodigy from doing town
or country hurt. In Shakespeare the
owl is often quoted notably when 1t Is
said OF Richard III, 1.-The owl shrieked
at his birth, an evil sign;" and in Mac
beth, 1.-THE raven is hoarse that croaks
the fatal entrance of Duncan under
the battlements."
The maybe is well known TO betok-
en- misfortune. Now there is natu-
raj explanation about seeing one mag
pie which may have given rise to this
belief. The fact is that in cold and
stormy weather one magpie alone
leaves the nest in search of food, the
other remaining sitting on the eggs or
the young brood; but in fine and mild
weather under the same conditions
both magpies are at liberty to leave
the nest together. The notion is thus
POLITICALLY expressed. zones sorrow,
twos mirth' (bad and fine weather..
Several of the superstitions regarding
birds appear at first sight positively
humane. Thus the small size of the
wren, and the trust in humanity
shown by the robin, have disarmed
even boys and secured an immunity of
their nests from plumber. The limo
cence OF the dove also appeals strong
ly TO rustic sentiment; but in part so,
perhaps. owing to the fact that il is
not considered good or lucky to use its
Feathers in a bed.
I Sailors are unreasonable respecting
(that well-known bird, the stormy pet
rel. 1t is mainly In consequence of
its ever being seen prior to the occur
renee Of snowstorms, whose utmost
rage never seems to disturb it, as 1t
boldly breasts the waves and faces the
blasts, uttering the while its low cry.
The ancient mariner absurdly consid-
cred ii as raising the storm, which its
habits only bring it in connection
with, and execrated it accordingly.
This belief has unfortunately sur
vived till the present day. "As we'll"
wrote Wilson, the ornithOlogist,
might the sailors curse the lighthouse
that guides them on their lonely way,
or the buoy that warns Of the sunken
rock below" The petrol is in reality
a monitor of the approach of stormy
weather, and as such is deserving of
the highest consideration, which he
i. certainly does not receive.
49,