Nelikümmend lindu eesti rahvausundis III

Abstract

The article acquaints folk beliefs about white wagtail (majority are connected with the growth of flax), swan (it has a single miracle feather under its wing, it is faithful to the partner. It has mislead the cranes. The person who gets swindled by swan does not have luck in travelling. In the runic verse the swan is the synonym for maiden), skylark (it has been cerated by god, it has white feathers in winter and it spends the winter under the drift, the person who hears its singing for the first time in the spring it foretells fortune and health, its swindling means the loss of singing voice), capercaille (the appearance of devil or elf), woodcock ( spends the winter under the sod, in springtime their back part is full of sweet milk), witch hawk ( a hawk sent from Lappland to impel birds to fly to Lappland to feed Lapps; a human bewitched into a bird; a witch; an artificial bloodless being), golden oriole ( the foreteller of rain and death, a bird connected with sowing of flax, the swindling causes lack of growth of flax), robin ( it has got its red breast form the blood of Jesus, when it tried to pull off his spikes), swallow (a maiden turns into a swallow because 1) a man marries a younger woman, 2) a man tries to kill a dumb woman and tears her skirt, 3) a witch turns a bride into a swallow and replaces her with her own daughter, 4) a stepmother kills an orphan and the orphan turns into a swallow, 5) she escapes with a bleeding throat and a torn skirt and turns into a bird, 6) a mother-in-law tears the skirt of her daughter-in-law, 8) an orphan girl, who has got too much work to do, 8) god, beggar or witch turns wedding guests into swallows. The nesting near the house is a sign of good fortune, but flying into the house means a fire in the house. They spend the winter in lakes. For the popularity it has been elected to be the national bird), corn crake (it is not able to fly, comes on foot from the south, gets across the water on board of the ships or drifting wood or on stork back. Swindled farts a lot).