In Norway crows are thought to go down to hell once every year, when they must appear before Satan and give him a tribute of feathers. The supreme war-goddess of the Gaels of Scotland, was Morrigu, the Red Woman or war goddess, who figures in the adventures of Cuchulain, and whose favorite disguise was to […]
Tag: europe
Bird stories, Blackbird (Turdus merula)
In the neighbourhood of Brescia the last two days of January and the first of February are called the blackbird’s days, the story is that this bird, whose original colour was white, became black because one year these three days were so cold that she had to take refuge in a chimney. It is believed […]
Bird stories, Black Woodpecker, (Dryocopus martius)
This tale is told by the peasantry in Norway. In those days when our Lord and S. Peter wandered upon earth, they came to an old wifes house, who sat baking. Her name was Gertrude, and she had a red mutch on her head. They had walked a long way, and were both hungry, and […]
Bird stories, Bean Goose (Anser fabalis)
Gabriel hounds in Scandinavia are the bean geese calling to one another in their nocturnal journeys having a singular resemblance to the yelping of beagles. The story is that Gabriel, obliged to follow this airborne pack, is said to be human-headed, high in the dark air, as a punishment for having once hunted on Sunday. […]
Bird stories, the Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)
So called from the old legend which declared this bird to be produced from trees, resembling willows, which grew in the Orkney Isles ; it being also believed that each end of the branch produced small round balls, which, when ripe, dropped into the sea, and then appeared as a perfect goose. There is a […]
Bird stories, more Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
The Basques tell that once upon a time a bit of straw was blown into the Blessed Virgins eye. The redbreast (in Basque Chindorra), who was sitting on a bush close at hand, beheld her tears. What did he do? He flew off at once to tell the swallow, and then, carrying in his bill […]
Bird stories, the Barn Swallow
A species of marmot is native in Poland and in nearby Galicia, as well as in the lands to the east as far as central Asia. It is also very common in Eastern Siberia. There, as elsewhere, the little animal is called Bobac. Under the shoulder of the Bobac, in the flesh, may be found […]
Vintage plate of Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus)
In 1902 this Thrush was called the Dark Thrush or the Dusky Thrush, it said: In Asia this Thrush has a wide range: and its true habitat is there; for it is only known within the limits of the western Palaearctic Region as a rare and occasional straggler. According to Professor Schlegel it has once […]
Vintage plate of Scaly Thrush (Zoothera dauma)
In 1902 this Thrush was called Whites Thrush, Turdus Varius, it said: Although an inhabitant of Eastern Asia, this Thrush has frequently straggled to various parts of Europe, and as far west even as Great Britain, where it has been captured on at least nine occasions. The first recorded British-killed specimen appears to be that […]
Vintage plate Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
In 1902: The breeding-habits of the Fieldfare are only to be observed in the north and east of Europe ; for in every other part of the continent the bird is scarcely ever known as other than a winter visitant. It is fond of the neighbourhood of cultivated land, birch-woods, or those wherein birch and […]