December, 189^.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



[Si 



In regard to the Gustom which prevails 

 in Europe of having a roast Goose, at 

 Michaehnas, our legend says that St. 

 Martin was tormented with a Goose, 

 which he finally killed and ate. As he 

 died from the repast, good Christians have 

 ever since sacrificed the Goose on the day 

 of the Saint. 



ABOUT THE PEACOCK. 



The Peacock is mentioned in the Bible, 

 but it was not known in the Holy Land 

 until Solomon's ships brought home from 

 Tarshish specimens of the bird, together 

 with Apes and other curiosities. ^Elian 

 relates that Peacocks were brought into 

 Greece from some barbarous country, and 

 says they were held in such high estima- 

 tion that a pair were valued at Athens at 

 1000 drachma:^ or over $160. Their 

 next step might be to Samos, where they 

 were preserved about the temple of Juno, 

 being the birds sacred to that goddess. 

 In ancient times Peacocks' crests were 

 among the ornaments of the Kings of 

 England. The pride of the Peacock when 

 in full feather is proverbial. The fabled 

 incorruptibility of the Peacock's flesh, 

 caused the bird to be adapted as a type of 

 the resurrection. "By peacock" was at 

 one time an oath esteemed as sacred. 



Peacock feathers are again condemned 

 as unlucky. There was such superstition 

 in old times, but it faded out, and during 

 the first part of the present century Pea- 

 cock feathers were again in high repute ; 

 however, the old superstition has been 

 revived and there is now no sale for the 

 feathers. 



A year or two ago, in order to prove 

 the folly of this superstition, Daniel Hod- 

 not of Long Branch, brother-in-law of the 

 late Daniel Liddv, brought home from 

 Europe a screen made of Peacock feathers. 

 He told his wife of the prevailing super- 

 stition and said they would disprove the 

 commonly received notion. She said the 



superstition did not disturb her. Since 

 then Mr. Hodnot's house has several times 

 marvelously escaped destruction by fire ; a 

 valuable dog of his died without apparent 

 cause ; burglars have entered the place 

 and stolen valuables, and both Mr. Liddy 

 and Mr. Hodnot have died. Finally there 

 was a lawsuit to contest Mr. Liddy's will. 

 In the neighborhood of Long Branch Pea- 

 cock feathers are now no more popular 

 than before the test was made. 



PIGEON LEGENDS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 



The Pigeon or Dove having been asso- 

 ciated with man from the earliest times, 

 there are many legends connected with it. 

 We read of the Dove in the time of Noah. 

 Two black Pigeon? are said to have taken 

 their flight from Thebes, in Egypt ; one 

 flew to Libya, and the other to Dodona 

 in Greece. On the spot where the former 

 alighted, the temple of Jupiter Ammon 

 was erected ; in the place where the other 

 settled, the oracle of Jupiter was estab- 

 lished, and there the responses were made 

 by the black Pigeons that inhabited the 

 surrounding groves. 



Mahomet had a Pigeon that was taught 

 to pick grains of wheat from his ear, in 

 order that it might be thought that the 

 bird brought him communications from 

 heaven. 



There was an old superstition that one 

 sprinkled with the blood of a Pigeon 

 would never die a natural death. This 

 notion is said to have originated as fol- 

 lows : A sculptor carrying home a bust of 

 Charles I. stopped to rest on the way ; at 

 the moment a Pigeon overhead was struck 

 by a Hawk, and the blood of the bird fell 

 on the neck of the bust. The sculptor 

 thought this ominous, and after the king 

 was beheaded the incident was given a 

 place among the popular superstitions of 

 the time. 



As regards the Dove there is no end of 

 popular superstitions and an abundance of 

 folk lore. 



