is a sign of rain. Its call is supposed to
resemble the word _gwlaw_, the Welsh for rain.

_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 fran.

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 bre