Bird-Lore

transcribed at

Bird-Lore  [duchas:5029751]

The robin is seen in bushes and when snow falls he comes to the door and chirps for food. The swallow is found in a barn. It and the cuckoo fly to another country when the winter comes. The swallows gather in a barn before they go and then fly away.
The robin builds his nest in a fence. The swallows build in a barn or in eaves of houses. The tomtit builds in a split in a wall. The wren builds in a bush. The jackdaws and crows build in treetops and in chimneys.
The weather is very often judged by birds. The plovers when seen around this district are the sign of snow. The curlews cry loudly for rain.
The tradition about the robin's red breast is that when Our Saviour was dying on the Cross the robin was pulling thorns from His Head when some of His precious blood stained its breast and it was red since.