The crow was in very great distress, for however she tried and whatever she did, she could not rear a family. No sooner were the young hatched, than the hawk would come and pick them up. In vain did she try to hide her nest in the hollows of a tree or in the thickets […]
Category: Corvidae
The young and ugly
Of all the birds, this is considered the ugliest, especially its young fledglings. The legend tells that sometime after God had created all the living beings, he called everyone to see them and their offspring. He wanted to see how the young birds and animals looked, and then to give them suitable gifts, and food […]
The Greedy Crow
One day a crow found a piece of meat on the ground. He picked it up and flew to the top of a tree. While he was sitting there eating his meat, a kasaykasay (a small bird) passed by. She was carrying a dead rat, and was flying very fast. The crow called to her, […]
The court of Crows
According to Landt, a Danish writer, crows are singularly troublesome in the Feroe Islands, deriving great part of their subsistence from plunder. Not content with picking seed from the field, they dig up the newly planted potatoes, destroy the barley before it is ripe, cut off the cabbage roots, and those of almost every other […]
A Murderer Detected through Ravens
A gentleman who had been robbed by his servant forgave him on condition that he would promise to abandon his bad habits. This promise he so far kept, and conducted himself so steadily as to accumulate enough money to enable him to marry, and to keep an inn on a much frequented road. About twenty […]
How Raven found and lost his pretty wife Goose
For a long time Raven lived alone, but finally became tired of this and decided to take a wife. For this purpose he looked about and noticed that it was late in the fall and that the birds were going soutliward in large flocks. Then Raven flew away and stopped directly in the path taken […]
The few men that understand the cries of the Raven
When it is desired that the owner of an afterbirth should understand the cries of the raven, the afterbirth is put down on the beach where the ravens peck at it. And when it is pecked at by the ravens, the man, when he is full grown, will understand the cries of the raven, for […]
The Magpie who wanted his tail back
An old woman had milked her cow, set her milk-pail down on the ground, and gone to find some twigs and litter with which to light a fire and boil the milk. A magpie came along and dipped his bill into the milk-pail to get a drink of milk. The milk-pail was upset ‘and the […]
The crow as future teller during Kivak Jatra in India
This story describes part of the Indian festival which is known as the Kivak Jatra (Crow Festival). In the early afternoonva procession started from the palace with swordsmen and the honorables, including the Raja, carried by elephants. All along the route every householder stood at the gateway of his garden, beside his offering, a stem […]
Folklore, how Raven colored the birds
Raven called great feast for all the birds. He painted each one a different way, all birds, the hawks, the owls, the eagles, the jays, great and small. He painted Robin red on the breast, Bluejay blue, and a knot on his head. He tied up Ruffed-Grouse’s hair in a knot. He painted Bald-Headed Eagle […]