G'day All
The term devilbird is not new to me but it applies to the Common
Swift in Britain. I quote from Derek Broomhalls book, Devil birds.
After talking about their peculiar flight & roosting habits he says
on P. 9: "Little wonder that swifts have long been birds of mystery,
and the subject of legend and folklore. In England the swift used to
be called the Develing, Devil's screech, Skir devil, or Devil's bird;
it is easy to imagine a pack of swifts, small black projectiles,
hurtling from the sky at a phenomenal speed and screaming like
banshees, as a fistful of little demons flung by the Devil, returning
at nightfall to some satanic roosting place."
then he says: " Before bird migration was accepted as a fact, swifts
swallows and other birds that disappeared at the end of summer were
thought to hibernate through winter."
I wonder if some early Welsh (or other Pom) miners saw these Scrub-
birds emerge suddenly from thick scrub and that recalled their
beliefs about hiding birds in the old mother country?
Interesting track to think about.
Cheers & Happy birding
Mike
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Michael Tarburton
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On 08/01/2011, at 1:16 PM, John Layton wrote:
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