Evening star., 1926-04-01
BUzzARD CARRIED
COWDELL a YEARS
Subject of Many Old Legends,
Finally Killed, Was
Widely Known.
BY Consolidated Press.

BY Consolidated Press.
CONFER, Ga, March 1.-The belied
buzzard is dead.
This weird bird. believed by negroes
of the South to bring vengeance upon
evildoers. particularly murderers, was
killed the other day near this little
town by w. G. Birchmore. a farmer
who was out hunting for geese and
brought down the buZZard by mistake
He took the bell from the buZzard' 8
neck and the Clipped and SCARED
piece of brass is now on display in a
jewelers. window at Athens. Scratched
on the bell is the date 1882, indicating
that the buzzard has lived "A years
with this brass cowbeu slung around
its neck.
The bell is two inches across the bot
tom. A piece is bitten out Of the edge
as though with clippers, and the sur
face is marred by use. The wire by
which 1t was suspended from the
buzZard's neck is almost worn In two.
No one ever sees a bell nowadays like
the one this old "bellboy of the skies
wore. and the wire attached to it is
not like the modern galvanized wire.
Everything points to the fact that the
date 1882 scratched on the bell is
right, and that the buZZard wore this
heavy piece of brass around its neck
for nearly half a century. The cary
ing on the bell was done with blunt
knife, and in addition to the date the
name Joel Mine. Lanville," is easily
discernible.
Bird Long Remembered.
Since the oldest inha abitant can re-
member. a belled buzZard has been
appearing periodically in the South,
la tFRcr hn tFStyc 10 xxrfth {{e-
weird tolling. 1t has been heard in
so many places, has seemed to cover
such incredible distances, and has
evaded firearms and traps so cleverly
that many have come to consider the
story as a myth. while the supersti-
tious have attached to 1t a super
natural significance.
But there has been no myth about
this belled buzZard. Farmer Birch.
more not only killed the creature but
brought the old veteran of the skies
back with him so that others in the
community could see. Then he placed
the bell on exhibition.
Stories from Maine to Mexico have
been told of the belled buZzard and it
IS not unlikely that this one was the
subject of them all, for during his ~
years Of life he has flown thousands
of miles and has spanned a vast
stretch OF territory. He has struck
fear into the souls of the superstitious
and has given rise to many legends
with a touch of the veodoo about
them.
Believed Murder Avenger.
A popular belief among negroes liv-
ing on the fringe OF the great Oke.
fenokee Swamp in south Georgia is
that If murderer leaves the body
of his victim exposed buzzards will
gather for hundreds of miles and hold
an inquest. The murderer is tried be-
fore highest tribunal of the air, and
il he is found guilty the bailiff of the
buzzards-that grim, Tapping bell
toller of the skies-is summoned and
ordered to dog the steps of the killer
until the murder is avenged.
Usually the murderer. SO the legend
runs, is driven crazy by the dreadful
toliing of the bell and takes his own
life. Irwin s. Cobb used this legend
as the basis for one of his most ia
nous stories.
A fact as interesting as these leg.
ends, however, is the whim that could
have caused Joel Mine Of LAW ille"
to attach a bell to the buzzard's neck
in 1882. and even stranger is the
vitality of the buzZard which enabled
1t to carry the bell Al years.