DEATH PORTENTS.
These are common, in one form or other, to all nations. I will give a list of those which were formerly in high repute in Wales.
The Corpse Bird, or Deryn Corph.
This was a bird that came flapping its wings against the window of the room in which lay a sick person, and this visit was considered a certain omen of that person’s death. The bird not only fluttered about the lighted window, but also made a screeching noise whilst there, and also as it flew away. The bird, singled out for the dismal honour of being a death prognosticator, was the tawny, or screech owl. Many are the instances, which have been told me by persons who heard the bird’s noise, of its having been the precursor of death. This superstition is common to all parts of Wales.
A Crowing Hen.
This bird, too, is supposed to indicate the death of an inmate of the house which is its home; or, if not the death, some sore disaster to one or other of the members of that
family. The poor hen, though, as soon as it is heard crowing, certainly foretells its own death, for no one will keep such an uncanny bird on the premises, and consequently the crowing hen loses its life.
It is a common saying that—
A whistling woman, and a crowing hen,
Are neither good for God nor men.
Should a hen lay a small egg it was to be thrown over the head, and over the roof of the house, or a death would follow.