When shall I be married?
she may tell the number of years which will elapse until her wedding by counting the number of times the bird cries "Cuckoo." She must reckon each cry as a year.
Another superstition relating to the cuckoo is that what you are doing when you hear its cries for the first time in any season is what you will spend most time at during the remainder of the year. Folk in the Channel Islands claim that they are sure to be fortunate if they jingle their purses and run a short distance when hearing the cuckoo for the first time in the year.
Owls, crows and magpies do not presage any good: in fact, many people would rather not meet them when anxiety is at hand. An old jingle says of magpies:—
One for anger,
Two for mirth;
Three for a wedding
Four for a birth.
Ravens are supposed to bring luck to the house where they build their nests, so it is unlucky to kill one.
It is unlucky to touch a yellowhammer in May, since there is the devil's blood in it then.