286 MYTHS OK THE CHEROKEE [f.tii.ann.19 



bringei'.s. Imt the one is venerated as a truth teller while the other 

 is seofl'ed at as a lying messenger, for reasons which appear in the 

 storj- of iS'unyunu'wi (q. v.)- When the tsikilili' perches on a branch 

 near the house and chirps its song it is tiiken as an omen that an at)sent 

 friend will soon be heai'd from or that a secret enemy is plotting mis- 

 chief. Manj' stories are told in continuation of this belief, among 

 which may be instanced that of Tom Starr, a former noted outlaw of the 

 Cherokee Nation of the West, who, on one occasion, was about to walk 

 unwittingly into an ambush prepared for him along a nari'ow trail, 

 when he heard the warning note of the tsikilili', and, turning abruptly, 

 ran up the side of the ridge and succeeded in escaping with his life, 

 although hotly pursued by his enemies. 



36. THE BALL GAME OF THE BIRDS AND ANIMALS 



Once the animals challenged the birds to a great ballplay, and the 

 birds accepted. The leaders made the arrangements and fixed the 

 day, and when the time came both parties met at the place for the 

 ball dance, the animals on a smooth grassy bottom near the river and 

 the birds in the treetops over liy the ridge. The captain of the animals 

 was the Bear, who was so strong and heavy that he could pull down 

 anyone who got in his way. All along the road to the ball ground 

 he was tossing up great logs to show his strength and boasting of 

 what he would do to the Ijirds when the game began. The Terrapin, 

 too — not the little one we have now, but the great original Terrapin — 

 was with the animals. His shell was so hard that the heaviest blows 

 could not hurt him. and he kept rising up on his hind legs and drop- 

 ping heavil_y again to the ground, bragging that this was the way he 

 would crush any bird that tried to take the ball from him. Then 

 there was the Deer, who could outrun every other animal. Alto- 

 gether it was a fine company. 



The birds had the Eagle for their captain, with the Hawk and the 

 great Tla'nuwa, all swift and strong of flight, but still they were a 

 little afraid of the animals. The dance was over and thej' were all 

 pruning their feathers up in the trees and waiting for the captain to 

 give the word when here came two little things hardly larger than 

 field mice climbing up the tree in which sat perched the bird captain. 

 At last they reached the top, and creeping along the limb to where 

 the Eagle captain sat they asked to })e allowed to join in the game. 

 The captain looked at them, and seeing that thej' were four-footed, he 

 asked why they did not go to the animals, where they belonged. The 

 little things said that they had, but the animals had made fun of them 

 and driven them off because they were so small. Then the bird cap- 

 tain pitied them and wanted to take them. 



But how could they join the birds when they had no wings? The 

 Eagle, the Hawk, and the others consulted, and at last it was decided 



