In all countries superstitions of good or evil are attached to certain
birds. The raven, for instance, has a wide-world reputation as the
harbinger of evil and ill-luck. The wild geese portend a severe winter;
the robin is held sacred, for no one would think of harming a bird who
bears on his breast the blessed mark of the blood of Christ; while the
wren is hunted to death with intense and cruel hate on St. Stephen’s
Day.