Pigeon.
If the sick asks for a pigeon pie, or the flesh of a pigeon, it is a sign that his death is near.
If the feathers of a pigeon be in a bed, the sick cannot die on it.
The Raven.
The raven has ever enjoyed a notoriously bad name as a bird of ill-omen.
He was one of those birds which the Jews were to have in abomination (Lev., xi., 5-13).
But other nations besides the Jews dreaded the raven.
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of
Duncan under thy battlements.
Macbeth, Act i., s. 5.
Thus wrote Shakespeare, giving utterance to a superstition then common. From these words it would seem that the raven was considered a sign of evil augury to a person whose house was about to be entered by a visitor, for his croaking forebode treachery. But the raven’s croaking was thought to foretell misfortune to a person about to enter another’s house. If he heard the croaking he had better turn back, for an evil fate awaited him.
In Denmark the appearance of a raven in a village is considered an indication that the parish priest is to die, or that the church is to be burnt down that year. (Notes and Queries, vol. ii., second series, p. 325.) The Danes of old prognosticated from the appearance of the raven on their banners the result of a battle. If the banner flapped, and exhibited the raven as alive, it augured success; if, however, it moved not, defeat awaited them.
In Welsh there is a pretty saying:—
Duw a ddarpar i’r frân.
God provides for the raven.
But this, after all, is only another rendering of the lovely words:—
Your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Such words imply that the raven is a favoured bird. (See p. 304).
Robin Redbreast.
Ill luck is thought to follow the killer of dear Robin Redbreast, the children’s winter friend. No one ever shoots Robin, nor do children rob its nest, nor throw stones at it. Bad luck to anyone who does so. The little bird with its wee body endeavoured to staunch the blood flowing from the Saviour’s side, and it has ever since retained on its breast the stain of His sacred blood, and it consequently enjoys a sacred life. It is safe from harm wherever English is spoken.
There is another legend, which is said to be extant in Carmarthenshire, accounting for the Robin’s red breast. It is given in Bye-Gones, vol. i., p. 173, from Mr. Hardwick’s Traditions, Superstitions, Folk-lore, etc.:—“Far, far away, is a land of woe, darkness, spirits of evil, and fire. Day by day does the little bird bear in its bill a drop of water to quench the flame. So near to the burning stream does he fly that his dear little feathers are scorched; and hence is he named Bronchuddyn (qu. Bronrhuddyn), i.e., breast-burned, or breast-scorched. To serve little children, the robin dares approach the infernal pit. No good child will hurt the devoted benefactor of man. The robin returns from the land of fire, and therefore he feels the cold of winter far more than the other birds. He shivers in brumal blasts, and hungry he chirps before your door. Oh, my child, then, in pity throw a few crumbs to poor red-breast.”