grown and twisted itself around his legs. 

 Since then, the nightingale does not dare 

 to sleep as long as the grapevine puts 

 forth tendrils, and therefore he sings to 

 keep himself awake. He asks the grape- 

 vine to hasten in growing, so that he 

 may have peace to sleep again : Grow 

 fast, grow fast ! my eyes are so heavy. 

 Midsummer-day has come; now the 

 nightingale has peace to sleep again, and 

 his song is no longer heard. The other 

 birds sing yet, but the freshness of spring 

 is no more in their song. The cook of 

 the cuckoo is, however, unchanged ; it 

 sounds as when it first brought the mes- 

 sage of spring to our ears. But it will 

 not last long. When the cuckoo sees the 

 first hay-stack, then his song is over, — 

 then a sudden transformation takes place. 

 The cuckoo is changed to a hawk and 

 takes the life of his little servant, the 

 bird that through the summer so faith- 

 fully has followed him from tree to tree. 



On the Russian islands Runoe and 

 Wormsoe, wdiere yet the Swedish 

 language is used, nothing is known of 

 the cuckoo's transformation, but it is 

 believed the cuckoo stops singing because 

 he has a barley-corn in his throat. This 

 is, however, a Slavic folk-lore. In the 

 forest the fresh voice of the cuckoo is 

 missing, but it is well that he stops when 

 the grass is cut, otherwise he prophesies 

 of hard times and poor harvest. 



In August, the storks commence to 

 gather in large crowds, and before 

 migrating they bold court and administer 

 justice. The one that has any complaint 

 to make steps forward, and if his com- 

 plaint proves true, judgment is given. 

 As the storks have by no means aband- 

 oned capital punishment, they kill the 

 guilty ones without mercy. An unfaith- 

 ful spouse or consort must be prepared 

 to die, for the storks are very zealous to 

 maintain the sacredness of marriage. 

 When they have seen the first barley-ear, 

 they migrate, says the peasant. Then they 

 journey to the Stork country ; and there 

 they are human beings. This can be 

 seen from many stories both from Den- 

 mark, Scania (an old Danish province, 

 now under Sweden), and Germany. Thus 

 a man, who was on a long journey, was 

 much surprised to see a long-legged gen- 

 tleman come and pat him on the shoulder 

 saying: "How do you do, Per?" And 



the most remarkable thing was that no 

 one had called him Per, since his good 

 wife died. 



'T guess you don't know me," said the 

 long-legged gentleman. "No sir," the 

 man replied, and was ashamed that he 

 could not recognize the stranger. "Well," 

 said the long-legged gentleman, "I have 

 lived on your roof for many years." And 

 then the man understood that it was a 

 stork speaking to him. 



The common people have always 

 known, that large birds, as storks, 

 cranes and wild geese migrate to other 

 countries in the fall. This is evident 

 from many proverbs : "When the crane 

 is surety for the wild goose, they both 

 leave the country." In Sweden they 

 say, when discouraged and tired of all 

 things : 'T wish I were so far away as 

 the crane is at Yule day." 



It is quite different with the smaller 

 birds. It is commonly thought that they 

 become torpid. This in Denmark is 

 believed of the swallow, the lapwing and 

 the wagtail. 



In Sweden they say that on Holy 

 Cross day (September 14) the swallow 

 is flying to the sea, and in Denmark, is 

 found the same belief; but the swallow 

 cannot sink before he has inhaled human 

 breath, therefore he flies very near peo- 

 ple in the fall. The fact that the swal- 

 lows often gather around the lakes in 

 large flocks about this time in the fall 

 and disappear very mysteriously (they 

 migrate during night and fly so high that 

 no one can see them) , has without doubt 

 given rise to this belief. In Iceland the 

 common tern or sea-swallow takes the 

 place of the swallow\ Of that,, it is said 

 that it is torpid from cross-mass in fall 

 (September 14) to cross-mass in spring 

 (May 3). The lapwing lies torpid in 

 bogs and moors, and he holds a blade of 

 grass in his bill. In Iceland they say of 

 the golden plover that he lies torpid in 

 caves in the rock w^ith a branch in his 

 bill, and he will die, when the branch is 

 taken away, for from that he draws his 

 nourishment. 



Over all Scandinavia the wagtail is 

 counted among the birds that lie torpid ; 

 in several places the same holds good for 

 the starling and skylark, and in Iceland 

 for the fallow-finch or wheat-ear. 



The skylark, as they say in Swxden, 



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