238 BIRDS IN LEGEND 



among the rocks below. There they were changed into 

 guillemots and dwell to this day on the crags at the edge 

 of the sea. 



Another juvenile story explains that the swallows be- 

 came what they are by a change from Eskimo children 

 who were making "play-house" igloos of mud on the 

 top of a cliff. To this day the swallows come every sum- 

 mer and fix their mud nests to the rocks, recalling their 

 childish joy in the previous state of their existence. 

 Hence the Eskimo children particularly love to watch 

 these birds in their "igluiaks," which are said not to be 

 molested by the predatory ravens. 



Once a long war was fought between the brants and 

 the herons, according to a Tlingit legend, but at last the 

 swans intervened and a peace was arranged. To celebrate 

 it the herons indulged in much dancing, and have been 

 dancers ever since. I am inclined to think this another 

 crane legend, because the few herons known in the Tlingit 

 country do not indulge in such antics, whereas the 

 cranes do "dance" a great deal in the mating-season. 

 These Indians, by the way, say that they learned the use 

 of pickaxes by watching a heron strike the ground with 

 its beak; and the suggestion of snowshoes was caught 

 from the ptarmigan, on whose feet grow in winter ex- 

 pansions of the toes that serve to make it easier for the 

 bird to walk on snow. 



The ruffed grouse, the Ojibways declare, was marked 

 with eleven spots on its tail to remind him of the time 

 when he wouldn't do as he was told, and had to fast 

 eleven days as a punishment. On the other hand Mana- 

 bozho rewarded the kingfisher for some useful informa- 

 tion by hanging a medal (in color) about its neck; but in 

 bestowing the medal Manabozho snatched at the king- 



