THE FOLK LORE OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO ESSEX. 65
prognosticator of the meteorological conditions. Should this
bird hang about home or fly up and down or especially low,
rain or wind may be expected; if it tumbles or descends in its
flight it is taken as a certain indication that rain is at hand.
Another idea is that if the birds feed busily and move rapidly
over the ground in one direction and in a compact formation
a storm will soon follow. If they perch in rows on dykes and
palings wind is looked for; if they fly high when going to roost
the next day will be fair, and vice versa. The belief that if
Rooks fly to the mountains in dry weather, rain is near, comes
from the Isle of Man. In some parts of Yorkshire there is an
idea that when they congregate on the dead branches of trees
there will be rain before night, but if they stand on the live
branches the day will be fine. We find that some of the Titmice
were associated with weather changes; the sawing note of the
Great Tit is said to foretell rain and the cry of the Blue Tit
the approach of colder conditions. An Irish story is that when
the Blackbird sings loud and shrill rain is sure to follow and in
the south-east of Ireland it is believed that if a Robin enters a
house snow or frost may be expected. The folk of Suffolk,
however, had other ideas of the Robin, as the following lines
from that county indicate:
"If the Robin sings in the bush
Then the weather will be coarse,
But if the Robin sings in the barn,
Then the weather will be warm."
The Swallow was held in much respect in regard to barometric
conditions. It is a common saying in this country that if
Swallows fly low it is a sign of rain and it is of interest to note
that the same idea prevails in France and North Italy. The
Swallow is universally regarded as the harbinger of spring and
summer. The Greeks held a festival in honour of this bird,
and at Rhodes the children went from house to house, carrying
young Swallows and singing a Swallow song. It is stated that
this custom of ancient days still prevails in Greece; parties of
boys and girls march through the streets, singing ballads and
carrying a pole surmounted by a wooden image of a Swallow.
The call of the Hoopoe is believed to foretell rain and the ancients
thought that its song before the vines ripened promised a plentiful