After the creation of the world, the God ordered all birds to dig an individual well for each of them to wash there. Everyone obeyed, apart from the buzzard who was absent at the moment. When it finally arrived it decided to use trickery and get a well for free. The buzzard suggested the crow […]
Tag: europe
Bird stories, Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
The nomadic Bedouin of the Sinai Peninsula believed that if the body of an Egyptian Vulture was buried for forty days, then dug up and boiled until all of the flesh had dissolved, a single bone would stick up among the others, signifying that it held great power. All that was required to win the […]
Bird stories, Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)
In England the dotterel is considered an article of food a great delicacy. It is caught in the night by lamplight, in accordance with the movements of the fowler. For if he stretch out his arm the bird extends a wing. If he stretches a leg, the bird does the same. In short, whatever the […]
Bird stories, Curlew (Numenius arquata)
The sad wailing, cry of these birds, while on the wing, in the dark still nights of winter, resembling the moans of wandering spirits, is believed in some parts of England to be a death warning, and called the cry of the Seven Whistlers. In Scotland the farmers think the cry is exactly like the […]
Bird stories, Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)
Not more than a century ago English farmers thought it necessary to sow barley when the earliest note of the cuckoo was heard in order to insure a full crop. In Russian folklore the Erzians from Mordovia the story is that the cuckoo was destined to become a domestic bird, however, at first it promised […]
Bird stories, Common Crane (Grus grus)
A Wolf once devoured his prey so ravenously that a bone stuck in his throat, giving him great pain. He ran howling up and down in his suffering and offered to reward handsomely any one who would pull the bone out. A Crane, moved by pity as well as by the prospect of the money, […]
Bird stories, Corncrake (Crex crex)
In the north of Scotland it is regarded as a blessed animal. It is believed not to leave the country, but to remain torpid during the winter. In Ireland the popular opinion is that it becomes a water rail. References to an traonach, as it is called in Irish, can be found in poems and […]
Bird stories, Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
In Greek folklore fables the cormorant was once a wool-merchant. He entered into a partnership with the bramble and the bat, and they freighted a large ship with wool. She was wrecked and the firm became bankrupt. Since that disaster the bat skulks about until midnight to avoid his creditors, the cormorant is forever diving […]
Bird stories, Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
This bird is highly esteemed in Germany for its musical powers, and extravagant prices are given for first-class performers. As an instance may be cited the fact that a workman at Ruhla, in Thuringia, in the excess of his admiration for a good bird, gave a cow in exchange for it, hence the proverb current […]
Bird stories, Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
There once was a very learned Bishop, who saw a fine large nest up in an elm-tree, and when he had climbed up he saw that it was full of young Crow-chicks. One of these chicks had such a winsome appearance and took him home to the Palace. In due time the Crow grew up, […]