May 24 2013
Once a hunter in the mountains heard a noise at night like a rushing wind outside the cabin, and on going out he found that an eagle had just alighted on the drying pole and was tearing at the body of a deer hanging there. Without thinking of the danger, he shot the eagle. In …
May 23 2013
The eagle is the great sacred bird of the Cherokee, as of nearly all our native tribes, and figures prominently in their ceremonial ritual, especially in all things relating to war. The particular species prized was the golden or war eagle (Aquila chrystaetus), called by the Cherokee the ” pretty-feathered eagle.” on account of its …
May 22 2013
It happened thus somewhere in Cameroon. Tawny Eagle and Turtle built a village together. One day Turtle went walking in the forest, leaving Eagle at home alone. As soon as Turtle had disappeared in the forest, Eagle seized Turtle’s child and killed it. When Turtle returned from his going, he found his child dead: so …
May 22 2013
The eagle is often seen sitting on the bank of a stream and will remain there sometimes for hours together. It is known that at these times she is watching for a salmon to swim so close to the bank that she can seize him with the talons of one foot while retaining hold of …
May 21 2013
Kites have always been considered to be very unlikely vagrants to Iceland. Many men have been anxious to learn the language of birds, for they are wise and can tell many things, both of the past and future. There is but one way to learn the bird language and that is a dangerous one for …
May 20 2013
Leopard and Hawk became friends. One day Leopard went to Hawk’s village to pay him a visit. Hawk said to himself, “What thing is it that I’ll cook for Leopard? I have nothing on hand.” Then he flew up into a tree. A fowl came into the village street, Kpwing! Hawk swooped down and caught …
May 17 2013
In Nepal the Mustangi Gurung believe that after hanging the head of Golden eagles and Lammergeier on the main entrance it is believed that the house is safe from evil. A dead Lammergeier corpse and intestine is also an effective medicine for the treatment of diarrhea for the local people and this is still believed …
May 17 2013
The Mustangi Gurung of Nepal chop down the dead body for burial into many pieces and offer the vultures. Lama calls the vulture by praying and blowing his trumpet. There is a belief that a skilled lama can invite only the required number of vulture in accordance to the weight of a dead body to …
May 12 2013
The Palestines tell tat when the female vulture was ready to lay an egg, her mate would fly off to search for a hadjar al-nasr, a vulture’s stone. This precious rock was to be found only on a select few mountains, and the male vulture sometimes had to fly as far as the islands of …
May 11 2013
Among the Dakotah Indians there is a deluge legend to the effect that when the flood came, all the Indians, hoping to escape, fled to a hilltop, but were finally overwhelmed, all but one woman, who was borne away by a great eagle, her father swooping down, and carried to a high mountain. She afterward …
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