4 BIRDS IN LEGEND 



Prophet Elijah that a "bird of the air . . . shall tell the 

 matter"; and monkish traditions abound in revelations 

 whispered in the ear of the faithful by winged mes- 

 sengers from divine sources, as you may read further 

 along if you have patience to turn the leaves. The poets 

 keep alive the pretty fiction; and the rest of us resort 

 to the phrase with an arch smile whenever we do not care 

 to quote our authority for repeating some half-secret bit 

 of gossip. "This magical power of understanding bird- 

 talk," says Halliday, 1 * "is regularly the way in which the 

 seers of myths obtain their information." 



Primitive men — and those we style the Ancients were 

 primitive so far as nature is concerned — regarded birds 

 as supernaturally wise. This canniness is implied in 

 many of the narratives and incidents set down in the 

 succeeding pages; and in view of it birds came to be 

 regarded by early man with great respect, yet also with 

 apprehension, for they might utilize their knowledge to 

 his harm. For example: The Canada jay is believed 

 by the Indians along the northern shore of Hudson Bay 

 to give warning whenever they approach an Eskimo camp 

 — usually, of course, with hostile intent; and naturally 

 those Indians kill that kind of jay whenever they can. 



The ability in birds to speak implies knowledge, and 

 Martha Young 2 gives us a view of this logic prevailing 

 among the old-time southern darkies: 



♦This and similar "superior" figures throughout the text refer 

 to the List of Books in the Appendix, where the author and 

 title of the publication alluded to will be found under its number. 



The author takes this opportunity, in place of a perfunctory 

 Preface, to make grateful acknowledgment of assistance to Pro- 

 fessor A. V. H. Jackson, who revised the chapter on fabulous birds ; 

 to Mr. Stewart Culin, helpful in Chinese matters, etc.; to Pro- 

 fessor Justin H. Smith, who scanned the whole manuscript; and 

 to others who furnished valuable facts and suggestions. 



