246 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



A shower falling within a few days after the death of any 

 Bagobo is to be interpreted as a sign that the dead person is weeping 

 for a companion to follow him. Some one of his relatives or near 

 friends, therefore, will be smitten with mortal illness, failing the 

 performance of the proper spell to charm away the lingering spirit. 



A dire portent is the occurrence of an earthquake during the 

 celebration of Grinum, for it fortells the death of the host and of 

 all his family. 



A journey must be given up, or postponed, if an animal belong- 

 ing to any one of the expedition dies on the road, for this is a 

 sign that to go on would be dangerous. 



The sound of an insect chirping in a house at night is a sign 

 that somebody has just died, and this faint singing is the voice of 

 the right-hand soul {gimolnid takawanan) making the announcement 

 of its departure from the earth. 



The sound of a rotten tree crashing to the ground at night, when 

 no man is near to fell it, is an augur of death, for it moans that 

 the evil ghost which was the left-hand soul (tebang) is striking his 

 head against the trunk to show that ho wants somebody to die 

 and be his comrade as lie prowls about at night. 3U 



The limokun 375 is recognized by the Bagobo as the omen bird, 

 whose voice must be listened to carefully for indications of suc- 

 cess or ill-luck. Opinions in regard to the precise manner of the 



3 "Father Gisbert records several omens that I did not happen to hear mentioned as 

 significant phenomena. In a letter dated February 8, 18S6, he says: "When the Bagobos 

 have an evil presentiment, for which it is enough for them to see a snake in the house, 

 or that the jar breaks in the fire, etc., they hasten to their matanom, in order to have 

 him conjure the misfortune by means of his great wisdom. . . . Sneezing is always a bad 

 omen for them, and accordingly if anyone sneezes by chance when they are about to set 

 out on a journey, the departure is deferred until next day." Blair and Robertson: 

 op. cit., vol. 43, pp. 237—238. 1906. 



37 'The limokun {Calcophaps lndica) is a species of turtle dove, or wood pigeon, having 

 green and white plumage, with red feet and beak. It is a large and beautiful bird 

 that Bagobo children love to catch and tame for a house pet, and this they do freely, 

 notwithstanding its character as an omen bird. The boys snare it by laying a slip-noose 

 on the red pepper plant, whose fruit the bird comes to eat. The string of the slip-noose 

 is tied by its other end to the slender branch of a tree or bush, so as to work by a 

 simple form of trigger release, the branch bending down and springing back when the 

 bird steps into the noose. In about two nights, a boy told me, the limokun, imprisoned 

 in a little cage of splil bamboo, has grown fairly tame. The decoy note for limokun is 

 made by w 1 1 i - 1 1 i 1 1 lt between the two thumbs held in contact, vertically and close to the 

 lips, the four lingers of the right hand being clasped over those of the left, with a tiny 

 crevice loft for an air vent. 



