FABLE AND FOLKLORE 85 



that God "provided" big birds as carriers for little ones — 

 especially as we know that the weakest warblers are able 

 to cross from Europe to Africa; but other equally modern 

 and more matter-of-fact testimony comes from the same 

 quarter of the world. In The Evening Post, of New 

 York City, dated November 20, 1880, a long letter ap- 

 peared on this topic, written by an anonymous corre- 

 spondent who gave his own similar experience in Crete 

 in the autumn of 1878, part of which reads: 



"On several occasions the village priest — a friendly Greek 

 with whom I spent the greater part of my time — directed my 

 attention to the twittering and singing of small birds which he 

 distinctly heard when a flock of sand-cranes passed by on 

 their southward journey. I told my friend that I could not see 

 any small birds, and suggested that the noise came from the 

 wings of the large ones. This he denied, saying 'No, no ! I 

 know it is the chirping of small birds. They are on the backs 

 of the cranes. I have seen them frequently fly up and alight 

 again, and they are always with them when they stop to rest and 

 feed.' I was still sceptical, for with the aid of a field-glass I 

 failed to discover the 'small birds' spoken of. I inquired of 

 several others and found the existence of these little feathered 

 companions to be a matter of general belief. 'They come over 

 from Europe with them.' One day, while fishing about fifteen 

 miles from shore, a flock of cranes passed quite near the yacht. 

 The fishermen, hearing the 'small birds/ drew my attention to 

 their chirping. Presently one cried out, 'There's one !' but I 

 failed to catch sight of it, whereupon one of the men discharged 

 his flintlock. Three small birds rose up from the flock and soon 

 disappeared among the cranes." 



This letter, despite its column-length and its anonym- 

 ity, was copied in full by that highly scientific journal 

 Nature, of London, and this immediately brought out a 

 note from John Rae, one of the wisest explorers of north- 

 western Canada, who related (Nature, March 3, 1881) 

 that it was the general belief among the Maskegan (Cree) 



