another I believe is also found in the Austrian The 

 highlands, parts of Germany, and elsewhere, Coming 

 to the effect that if a nightingale come ' with ° us ' 

 Song upon it' into the room of a sleeping- 

 person, that person will go mad, or that if the 

 eyes of a nightingale found dead or slain be 

 dissolved in any liquid, the drinker will become 

 blind. I have heard, too, a tale (though the 

 bird was there alluded to as the smeorach- 

 oidhche or ' night-thrush ') where the nightin- 

 gale, the owl, and the bat are called moon- 

 children, the Moon -Clan; three birds, it is 

 said, with three animals of the land and three 

 of the water, three fish, three insects, three 

 trees, three plants, three flowers, and three 

 stones were thrown to the earth as a farewell 

 gift the day the Moon died. Among the 

 three birds the teller included the bat, and I 

 daresay there are many who still regard the 

 bat as a bird. The three animals of land and 

 water were the weasel, the badger, and the 

 fox, the seal, the otter, and the kelpie (sic). 

 The three fish were the fluke, the eel, and the 

 moon -glistered herring. The three insects 

 were the white moth, the grey gnat, and the 

 cockchafer. The three trees were the ash, the 

 thorn, and the elder. The three plants were 

 the ivy, the moon-fern or bracken, and the 

 mistletoe. The three flowers were the meadow- 



193 o 



