SUPERSTITIONS, FABLES, &c. RELATIVE TO ANIMALS.
(_Concluded from page 213_.)
The oriental fable of the _Roc_ has its probable origin in the condor,
which is undoubtedly the largest and strongest bird of the vulture tribe
in existence, and extremely ravenous. Minerva's bird, the _Owl_, is well
known as one of ill omen; besides the superstitious idea that the
screech-owl foretells death by its cry, it was formerly believed to suck
the blood of children. The Mongol and Calmuc Tartars have held the _White
Owl_ sacred since the days of Genghis Khan, when a bird of this species
having settled on a bush in which that prince had hidden himself from his
enemies, those who pursued him past it, not believing that a bird would
perch on a bush wherein a man was concealed. The _Raven_ has ever been
considered by the vulgar as a bird of evil omen, the indicator of
misfortunes and death; and, indeed, the superstition is but consonant with
a bird of such funereal note and hue, and exhibiting such goule-like
propensities.
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