SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT BIRDS. Visitors Which Bring Luck -Omens of Good and Evil.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 208, 25 June 1887, Page 8

SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT BIRDS. Visitors Which Bring Luck -Omens of Good and Evil.

I> Franco ttio hancLome -white owl, with its phi iv^o, i accepted everywhere as a fore- \ unnei of death. As if that were not enough to chaw upon il the animadversion of all, thi« Mid i- often accused of f-r.ciiiege, for in Trounce and Limgucdoc it i<- chorged with drinking the oil of the church tamps. In the s-o ith of Germany the crow bespeaks pood luck, but in t'rancc anything but that if <-uen in tlu morning. The name with the magpie— ill-luck if it llics on your left ; if on the contrary, on the right, you may be assured that the dov will be a fortunate one. in England the influence of the appearance of this '■nucy bird upon cuncnt events is governed by the number in which it appears, and is thus summed up. One for sorrow, Two for mi i tli ; Tin po fora wedding ; Four for a birth. Among the negroes of the Southern f-tate.s the motl'iing; dove moans to s-ave a man's .soul. To kill one of these doves is a feign of death, but more frequently the death of a clrPd. A buz/ard or "a crow on a housetop b behoved by the same peo^e to bean invariable f ign of death or disaster ; a vKit at the door from a rooster, the appionching visit of a friend ; the notes of thcVcreeching owl, or " shivering" owl, are a bad omen of many interpretations ; while, if the common owl hoots on your right, good luck will follow, but bad 'luck bhoukl he take up his position on your left side and hoot therefrom. The reputation of all night birds, great or small, is no bettor s but Southern imagination has discovered a remedy for all their spells. It consists of throwing a, pinch of salt into the fire as soon ac their .sound Ls heard. If a chufii nch porches on your windowsill beware of treachery. It was the wren which aided Prmoetheus in stealing the .sacred lire ot knowledge from beneath Jove's throne in heaven. Accordingly, he who kllla a wren will have his home desstroyed. If you have money in your pocket when you hear the cuckoo for thenrfct time, it is a good omen, and you will have your pockets well lined during the year : if, on the contrary, you have no money, ] cultivate your friends, for you will bo in need of their assistance before long. The blackbird which crosses your road brings^ you good luck. No physician Should fail to procure a bed of partridge feather s v A patient laid upon such a oed, no matter what his disease, will never die of it, although he will not necessarily get well