Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians: Hitchiti Stories: 5. The Man-eating Bird

5. THE MAN-EATING BIRD

Several persons went out to hunt and traveled about for some time. One night some unknown person carried off one of them, and they started on without him. They traveled along and camped again and that night another person disappeared, only one being left. There was a puppy with them and in the morning the man and the puppy started on together. After they had traveled for some time night came, and the puppy said, "Creep into that hollow log and I will sit at the opening and watch." When he spoke thus that man went inside of the hollow log, and while he was sitting there he heard something coming making a noise. The puppy sitting at the opening barked. Then the thing reached them and began scratching on the hollow log. While he was doing so the Puppy said to the man, "If he scratches a hole through the hollow

Then the man and dog started along. They traveled about, and presently found some big eggs. They both sat down in that nest, and when night came some strange thing like a big bird came along in the sky and sat upon the eggs. It covered the man completely. While it was there and the man was sitting under it, the man-eater came making a noise. When it got there, he heard it attack the big bird sitting on the eggs. The man sat there for a while, and then the man-eater disappeared and did not come back. It was gone for good and when day came the thing sitting on the eggs flew toward the sky. After it started off that man left, traveled along and reached home. "Something like that (describing what it resembled) devoured them," he said.