FABLE AND FOLKLORE 279 



The Chippeway Indians, as Schoolcraft noted, account 

 for the friendly spirit of the robin by relating that he 

 was once a young brave whose father set him a task 

 too cruel for his strength, and made him starve too long 

 when he had reached man's estate and had to go through 

 the customary initiation-ceremonies. He turned into a 

 robin, and said to his father: "I shall always be the 

 friend of man and keep near their dwellings. I could 

 not gratify your pride as a warrior, but I will cheer 

 you by songs." 



This pretty fiction is noteworthy, when one recalls 

 the many instances in Greek and European myths and 

 poetry of men and women transforming themselves into 

 birds. 



The Cherokees had an interesting story about the 

 wren, always a busybody. She gets up early in the 

 morning, they say, pries into everything, and goes around 

 to every lodge in the settlement to get news for the 

 birds' council. When a new baby is born she finds out 

 whether it is a boy or a girl, and reports to the council. 

 If it is a boy the birds sing in mournful chorus : "Alas ! 

 The whistle of the arrow! My shins will burn," for 

 the birds know that when the boy grows older he will 

 hunt them with his blowgun and arrows, and roast 

 them on a stick. But if the baby is a girl they are 

 glad, and sing: "Thanks! The sound of the pestle! 

 At her home I shall surely be able to scratch where she 

 sweeps," because they know that after a while they will 

 be able to pick up stray grains where she beats the corn 

 into meal. 104 



In the myths or folklore of the Pawnees a character 

 in several tales, as related by Grinnell, 105 is a little bird, 

 smaller than a pigeon. "Its back is blue, but its breast 



