The Corpse Bird Or Deryn Corph
: DEATH PORTENTS.: Welsh Folk-lore
This was a bird that came flapping its wings against the window of the
room in which lay a sick person, and this visit was considered a certain
omen of that person's death. The bird not only fluttered about the
lighted window, but also made a screeching noise whilst there, and also
as it flew away. The bird, singled out for the dismal honour of being a
death prognosticator, was the tawny, or screech owl. Many are the
instances, which have been told me by persons who heard the bird's noise,
of its having been the precursor of death. This superstition is common
to all parts of Wales.
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