Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



should have been held in March ; it is then 

 that owls most cry and flit about, that being their 

 pairing season. Naturally people who watch 

 the sick hear the owls cry ; moreover the sick 

 die oftenest in the early morning. Hence the 

 cry of the owl became closely associated with 

 night and death and the bird attained in the 

 most remote epochs a lugubrious fame. 



In the Rigveda the pious are urged to send 

 up prayers to death and the god of death when 

 they hear the owl call. At Rome where the 

 auspex had a most elaborate ritual to comply 

 with and minute rules to follow, he managed 

 to distinguish no less than nine different calls 

 of the owl. It is singular that the super- 

 stition which still ravages nurseries in Europe 

 and America regarding cats, namely, that cats 

 suck the breath of babies and strangle them, 

 should have existed in Italy with regard to 

 the owl. Pliny explains the name of the " in- 

 fanda, improba strix" by the verb stringere, 

 to throttle, because the evil bird throttles babes 

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