As the mournful crocodile
With sorrow snares relentless passengers.
Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act iii. sc. 1 (1591).
Crocodiles weep over the prey which they devour.
The crocodile will weep over a man’s head when he [it] hath devoured the body, and then he will eat up the head too.--Bullokar, English Expositor (1616).
Paul Lucas tells us that the hummingbird and lapwing enter fearlessly the crocodile’s mouth, and the creature never injures them, because they pick its teeth.--Voyage fait en 1714.
Crow. If a crow croaks an odd number of times, look out for foul weather; if an even number, it will be fine.
[The superstitious] listen in the morning whether the crow crieth even or odd, and by that token presage the weather.--Dr. Hall, Characters of Vertues and Vices, 87.
If a crow flies over a house and croaks thrice, it is a bad omen.--Ramesey, Elminthologia, 271 (1668).
If a crow flutters about a window and caws, it forbodes a death.