56 <I(AfMBLES OF A <DOtMINIS 



the people say " they are settling who is to die before 

 they come again." 



A number of bird myths are associated with the 

 legends of the Cross. From the folk-lore of more than 

 one nation comes the story that when the sparrow 

 mocked at the sufferings of our Lord, a swallow, perched 

 upon the fatal rood, -sang tender notes of love and 

 consolation. The crossbill wears for ever in the strange 

 shape of his beak, and the red stain of his plumage, 

 tokens of his efforts to draw out the agonizing nails. 

 The robin, too, by breaking a thorn from the crown, 

 received on her breast a drop of sacred blood, which 

 tinges still her ruddy feathers. The swallow carried the 

 whole crown away, and the red upon her throat still 

 shows how she was wounded in the effort. 



Many old writers allude to 



" that wondrous stone which the swallow 



Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of 

 its fledglings." 



It is said that these stones are still met with among the 

 peasants of Britany. They have even been examined by 

 a naturalist, who describes them as resembling the 

 operculum of some tropical sea-shell. No less great, 

 according to the legend, is their power over the eyes of 

 human beings, and he who wears one is considered safe 

 against the falling sickness. 



The swallow is not the only bird acquainted with such 

 stones of magic. The raven is said to restore its young 

 to life by the help of a stone that it finds upon the shore. 

 The Tyrolese peasant finds in the nest of the jay a stone 



