190 



BIRDS IN LEGEND 



A somewhat more spiritual view was taken by the 

 Pimas of old times in the southwestern deserts. Their 

 ideas of the destiny of the human soul varied, but one 

 theory was that at death the soul passed into the body of 

 an owl. "Should an owl happen to be hooting at the time 

 of a death, it was believed that it was waiting for the 

 soul. . . . Owl-feathers were always given to a dying 

 person. They were kept in a long, rectangular box or 

 basket of maguey leaf. If the family had no owl-feathers 

 at hand they sent to the medicine-man who always kept 

 them. If possible, the feathers were taken from a living 

 bird when collected; the owl might then be set free or 

 killed." 83 



