The Hammerkop Scopus umbretta, if harmed, can wreak vengeance on the perpetrator and his property – the hills around the village could melt, his cattle could be hit by an epidemic, lightning may strike the man or he may die. It also predicts death by lurking in the water and stirring up pictures from the […]
Tag: South Africa
Bird stories, Emerald-spotted Dove (Turtur Chalcospilos)
This story originates from the Zulu tribes in South Africa. Now here we have got another bird with a very remarkable and somehow sad history amongst our people. It is a plump beautiful creature. This bird, our people say, is the bird of mourning, a bird of sadness, a bird of sorrow. It is a […]
Bird stories, Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres)
To African people the vulture was the symbol of fertility. It was the grandmother who laid many eggs according to one story. Eggs out of which emerge not little vultures, but any kind of animal that there is on earth. Some tribes believe that the vulture was the original great earth mother. And our people […]
Bird stories, Black-breasted Snake-eagle (Circaetus pectoralis)
The Black-breasted Snake Eagle, like the secretary bird, is by the Zulus of South Africa considered a symbol of victory. A symbol of victory over a vicious and pitiless world. Again and again in caves and in other places of gathering, our people used to portray this bird. It is also a symbol of God’s […]