the one laid on Good Friday is preserved, from the same reason. When a
baby is first taken out to see its friends, it is customary for them to
give it an egg: this, if preserved, is held to be a source of good
fortune to the future man. (Vide _Brand_, ii. p. 48.) The first egg laid
by a pullet is usually secured by the shepherd, in order to present to
his sweetheart,--the luckiest gift, it is believed, he can give her.

_Crows._--To see a crow flying alone is a token of bad luck. An odd one,
perched in the path of the observer, is a sign of wrath.

_Owls._--The ominous screech of this, the most ominous of all birds, is
still heard with alarm; and he remains with us, as in Chaucer's days,

"The oule eke that of deth the bode bringeth."

When, as sometimes happens, he exchanges the darkness of his ivy bush
for the rays of the sun at noon-day, his presence is looked upon as
indicative of bad luck to the beholder. Hence it not infrequently
happens that a mortal is as much scared by one of these occasional
flights as the small bird denizens of the tree on which he may happen to
alight.

_Cuckoos._--When the cry of the cuckoo is heard for the first time in
the season, it is customary to turn the money in the pocket, and wish.
If within the bounds of reason, it is sure to be fulfilled. In reference
to the pecuniary idea respecting the cuckoo, the children sing,

"Cuckoo, cuckoo, cherry tree
Catch a penny and give it to me."

_Robins and Wrens._--The robin is considered a sacred bird: to kill one
is little less than sacrilege, and its eggs are free from the destroying
hand of the bird-nester. It is asserted that the respect shown to it by
man is joined in by the animals of the wood. The weasel and wild cat, it
is said, will neither molest it, nor eat it when killed. The high favour
in which this bird is held is usually attributed to the ballad of _The
Babes in the Wood_. Few, however, among the peasantry of this district
have even heard of it; and, however much that beautiful tale may have
tended to popularise the belief, it is evident that we must trace the
origin to a more remote source. One cause for the veneration in which it
is held may be the superstition which represents him as the medium
through which mankind are warned of approaching death. {165} Before the
death of a person, a robin is believed, in many instances, to tap thrice
at the window of the room in which he or she may be. The wren is also a
bird