IN BELIEFS AND OMENS 99 



happen. If a sparrow throws a swallow out 

 of the nest, a son will be born and a daughter 

 die. But if the swallow pushes the sparrow 

 out, then a daughter will be born and a son 

 die. A sparrow flying towards a house is a 

 sign of the birth of a son, while an approach- 

 ing swallow foretells a daughter. 



The folk have noted the swallow's small, 

 weak feet, and the fact that, unlike other 

 birds, she is almost always on the wing. So 

 they have styled her a bird of heaven, and 

 added that when she alights upon a tree or 

 barn she cannot again fly away, but perishes 

 there, as the earth is not her element. They 

 account for her swift, tortuous, and appar- 

 ently capricious flight by the fanciful notion 

 that some invisible monster," a dragon or 

 hobgoblin, furiously pursues her. 



As the swallow flies so swiftly and easily, 

 why not ask her to bear messages to distant 

 loved ones, even to friends in heaven? A 

 learned man of Venice writes : — 



" It is believed here that swallows have 



