K11a1 Birds arise from the monster bird.

.12.18.21.28.32.48.-.52.57.59.70.

Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird are transformed into current birds (or their plumage).

Mosi, Kurnai, Apatani, Belarusians, Chuvash, Yuki, Ute, Navajo, Western Apache, Jicarilla, Lipan, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Zuni, (Papago), Yaqui, Huasteca, Sanema, Waiwai, Apinaye, Kayapo, Cracho, Apaniyecra, Ramcocamecra.

West Africa. Mossi [a sorcerer told a barren woman to cook porridge and not to wipe away a drop if it fell on her thigh; a drop fell, an abscess swelled, a boy was born from it, he said his name was Kegenkargen-biga-na-zengloanda; he went wandering, met a hero like himself, they began to live together; they shot birds, put them in a cage, and appointed a forest animal (not identified) as a guard; a huge hawk flew in, asked the guard whether to eat meat or a man, he answered meat; the kite ate the birds; the friends appointed another guard – same thing; K. himself remained to guard, he answered a man; the hawk swallowed him, but K. came out through the backside; the same thing again; K. killed the hawk, from its feathers today's birds arose]: Sissao 2010, no. 18: 45-46.

Australia. Kurnai (NW Victoria) [a man-eating emu pursues a crow-man, a possum-man; two brothers Bram-Bram see a star, this is the eye of the emu; they kill the emu with a spear; they split each feather lengthwise, from these halves the present emus emerge – male and female; only a wattlebird was able to pick up an emu egg, got dirty with yolk; B. tells the emu to lay smaller eggs; the emu is a dark spot between the Southern Cross and the legs of the Centaur; the Crow is Canopus]: Waterman 1987, No. 3860(1): 99.

Tibet – North-East of India. Apatani [there was a gigantic tree, the top of which was not visible; a huge bird Arii Midii made a nest on the top, began to bring people and animals to feed to its two chicks; people promised Palo Talo to make him king if he killed the bird, and ordered him not to kill the chicks; he climbed to the top, shot the mother bird, wanted to kill the chicks, but then people removed the iron pins by which he had climbed up; he began to feed the chicks with meat which the bird had prepared; he tested whether the chick would lift a stone, but only one did, and he killed the second; then the chick lowered him to the ground; he killed him too; a feather from the wing of the big bird became a small eagle, another – a hawk, the heart – a large eagle; PT was made king, but he returned to his country]: Blackburn 2008, No. 6: 81-83.

Central Europe. Belarusians (Smolensk province) [A peasant lives near Bryansk, he has a son, whom they call Ilya. For thirty years he has been motionless, neither with his hands nor with his feet. The father gathers the workers to clear the pits, the mother gathers the dinner for the workers. An old man comes into the hut and asks for a drink. Ilya replies that he cannot walk. The old man bids him lean on his hands and feet, and pour him some kvass. He pours it, the old man offers him a drink himself and asks how he feels. Ilya replies that if the Lord had established a pillar in the sky and the earth, then it could turn Mother Earth upside down. The old man asks for another mug, offers to drink half of it. Ilya replies: "Lord, half of my strength has gone." The old man disappears. Ilya explains to his mother that the Lord created his hands and feet. He takes tubs of brew, five buckets of vodka, five loaves of bread to his father and the Tolochans, tells everyone to lie down and rest, he himself clears twenty-five dessiatines of trees in two hours, throws the oaks into the Desna. He sends his father to a neighbor to buy a mare that has been lying motionless for thirty years. The neighbor was going to kill her with a club, sells her for five. Ilya himself goes for the mare, tells her that it is enough to lie there - she needs to run into the white light. She gets up. He makes himself a bow, an arrow, makes a heroic saddle, asks for a blessing from his parents and says goodbye. He hears that in the Crooked Forest there is a Nightingale the Robber, past whom no one passes closer than twelve miles, he kills everyone with a whistle. He rides there, Nightingale whistles, but only the horse shudders from the whistle, whistles louder, the horse falls to its knees, Ilya tells the horse not to be timid, shoots a bow into Nightingale's eye, knocks it out of its nest on twelve oak trees, ties it alive to the saddle, and rides to the king. There is a gathering of heroes in the royal house, they see from the window that a hero is riding, carrying Nightingale. They wonder if there are other heroes besides them. The strongest hero, Glutton, sitting in the pantry, says that they forgot about Ilya Murom, who was already born, but has not yet done anything weird. The heroes have cast-iron boards on their gates, but Ilya has a cast-iron hat, hitting them does not cause harm. The heroes ask if he is Murom, they do not want to give up their place, he sits down, knocking down the wall and crushes half of the heroes, and drives out the other half. The hero Glutton, who eats three oxen and drinks three tubs of beer, calls him into the pantry to shake hands and become brothers. Illya does not like that he shakes hands too hard, takes off his hat with his left hand, hits Glutton with it, he falls, breaking through the wall. They report to the king, who calls Illya to him. Illya unties Nightingale, puts it in his bosom, comes to the royal house, greets the king and the queen. When asked how he rode, he answers that he defeated Nightingale. The king asks to order him to whistle. Ilya squeezes the heads of the princesses under her armpits for their own good, orders them to whistle with the smallest whistle, Nightingale whistles, from which the ceiling breaks and the roof falls. Ilya gets angry, chops the Nightingale into small pieces with a sabre, blows on them, each one comes to life and becomes a nightingale, capable of singing loudly; releases them into the world . Ilya Murom goes to look for an enemy king. He goes to Kiev, where, according to rumors, a strong, powerful hero, Alkadim the Blind, lives in the forest. Alkadim dreams that he will die from Ilya, and wishes to make himself a coffin. Ilya sees carpenters, tells them to do it quickly. His house is littered with rubble, Ilya knocks down seven doors, greets him, offers Alkadim his right hand, but he does not like Alkadim, so he takes his hat with his left hand and kills Alkadim with it, then leaves to seek death]: Dobrovolsky 1891 No. 2: 397-402.

Volga - Perm. Chuvash [Ilya was a sitter until he was 30; everyone went to clear the forest; before dinner the great God comes and asks for a drink; Ilya: there is no one to bring it; God: bring it yourself; Ilya stood up with the ease of a boy; God tells him to drink himself; Ilya drank two buckets, and only half of the third; God: do you have the strength? Ilya: if the earth had a bracket, I would lift it up; he came to clear the forest, threw trees into the river, the river overflowed; began to look for a horse; as soon as he put his hand on its back, the horse stumbled; found a foal; overnight it grew into a horse; Ilya made himself an iron cap weighing 40 poods and a stick weighing 10 poods, and rode off; on the way there was a blind old man, he asked to give him a hand; Ilya gave him a stick, he shook it, the stick flattened; Ilya gave the old man his hat; he hugged it - it did not give in; the old man: you will be a pattyr (hero); the nightingale's nest is on 7 willows, the whistle can be heard for 7 miles; Ilya beat off his wing with a stick, pressed it with his hat, cut it into pieces, from each piece of meat grew birds the size of which depended on the size of the piece; from the fat - yellow ones ; Ilya did not live long on earth, went to heaven, now he chases the shaitan]: Magnitsky 1881: 251-253.

California. Yuki [first race destroyed by fire and flood; evil eagle Gilluk ruled the world, also destroyed; Coyote, his wife Frog, Kingfisher and Lizard gathered to make new people; Coyote pulled feathers from eagle's body, arranged them in pairs on floor of roundhouse; said these people would be better than previous ones made of sticks or clay; waited 4 days, then fasted 8 days, facing away from hearth - no people arose; then turned to face hearth, after 4 days feathers began to move, after 4 more days became people, each pair spoke its own language; Coyote told who should live where and what to eat]: Clark, Williams 1954: 14-15.

Great Basin. Southern Ute [every morning a girl lies down with her legs spread towards the rising sun; gives birth to twins by the Sun; they go to visit their father; an old woman, Bat, carries them to the Sun's house; the Sun's wife is angry; the Sun denies having had relations with other women, suggests that the boys' father is the Moon; quarrels with the Moon, knocks out his eye; the Moon is dim ever after; the Sun boils the twins in boiling water, they are unharmed; he recognizes them as his sons; warns that the road back is dangerous; they are attacked by a giant eagle; the younger brother hides in the bush, the elder shoots the eagle, plucks the feathers, but the birds take them for themselves ; the brothers return to their mother]: Lowie 1924, no. 48: 76-77);

Great Southwest. Feathers change into all the little birds. Navajo [hero gives feathers to bat woman; she opens basket, feathers fly away]: Haile 1938: 123; Matthews 1994 [elder sister conceives Nienezgani from sunbeam, younger sister conceives younger brother N. from water; brothers are gods of war, visit the Sun, eldest receives lightning bolts from it; brothers kill monsters; N. goes alone to kill a four-legged monster with deer antlers (its father is an antelope horn); Gopher digs an underground passage under the monster, gnaws the wool from the skin under the heart, explains that the wool is needed to warm the cubs; N. crawls under the tunnel, kills the monster with a lightning bolt; Gopher receives the skin; N. fills his intestine with the monster's blood, allows himself to be carried away by the monstrous bird; she throws it into the nest on the rock, but it does not break, thanks to the feather given by the Spider; tears out the intestine with blood, so that it seems as if it is dead; the chick says that the prey is alive, the bird does not believe it; N. asks the chicks how their parents will arrive; the father with a thunderstorm and a shower (lit. with "rain-man"), the mother with a quiet rain ("rain-woman"); N. kills both parents with lightning arrows, turns the elder chick into an eagle, the younger into an owl; the Bat lowers him to the ground in a basket; for this he gives her the feathers of monstrous birds, but they turn into all kinds of small birds]: 116-121; O'Bryan 1956: 92; Western Apache (White Mountain) [grandson successively asks grandmother where to get wood for a bow, reeds for arrows, sinew for bowstrings, feathers for arrows; she always answers that it is far and dangerous; he goes to get wood for a bow, says to Bear, Grandmother, I will be your wife ; Bear laughs, allows him to take; in front of the reeds are crushing rocks; Gopher digs a passage, brings reeds to the youth; a terrible bull Antelope (Big Horns) lies on the ground; Gopher digs four underground passages, tells Antelope that he needs wool for the freezing children, gnaws wool under the heart, the youth plunges a knife into it, Antelope furrows passages with a horn, dies; the youth takes sinew, fills his stomach with blood; lets himself be carried away by the Eagle, is thrown onto a rock, blood spurts from the antelope's stomach, the Eagle thinks the youth is dead, does not believe the chicks that he is alive; the youth kills the chicks, except for one; he replies that his brother, then that his sister will arrive with certain kinds of rain; the youth kills those who have arrived; that his father will arrive with a man's rain; ditto; turns the chick into an owl; the Bat-woman lowers the youth in her basket; he opens his eyes prematurely, she falls, is treated; the youth gives her eagle feathers, tells her not to go under the trees; she goes, the feathers have turned into all kinds of birds; the youth makes arrows; a white feather descends from the sky, turns into a girl, he marries her]: Goodwin 1994, no. 3: 12-16; Jicarilla[as Navajo]: Mooney 1898a: 207; Russell 1898 [see motif K10; small birds make their plumage from eagle feathers]: 258; Lipan [Enemy-Slayer kills monstrous Eagle; from his feathers all kinds of birds arise]: Opler 1940, no. 1: 19-21; Chiricahua : Hoijer 1938: 5-13 [Painted-White Woman lies down under running water, gives birth to Son of Water; hides him from Giant; and now grown-up Enemy-Slayer fears Giant; Son of Water suggests to Giant, who tries to take away from him the deer he has killed, that they shoot each other; The Giant misses, the arrows of the Son of Water break one after another four flint covers on the Giant's body, the last one hits the heart; the Bull kills with a glance; Gopher digs four underground passages for the Son of Water under the heart of the lying Bull; the Son of Water pierces the heart; the Bull breaks three passages with his horn, dies; the Son of Water fills his intestines with his blood, wraps himself in them; the Eagle carries him off, throws him on a rock to his children, thinks that the blood of the captured one splashed; the chicks say that the prey is alive, the Eagle does not believe; the Son of Water kills all the chicks, leaves the youngest; he replies that the father will fly in with the male rain, and the mother - with the female; the Son of Water kills both; descends on the eaglet, kills it; the eagles' feathers turned into all kinds of birds; the gophers killed with a glance; he blinded them by throwing salt into the fire, then killed them; [created the Indians, and Enemy-Killer created the Europeans] (episode with the transformation of feathers into birds: no. 4: 12); Opler 1942 [as in Hoijer]: 3-9, 13; mescalero : Hoijer 1938 [Painted-White Woman lies down under a cloud, gives birth to Enemy-Killer (EW); hides him from the Giant; he tries to take EW's meat, suggests shooting at each other; misses, EW's arrows break four flint covers on the Giant's body one after another, kill him; Bison kills with a glance; Gopher digs four underground passages for EW under the lying Bison; where the heart is, he gnaws off the wool, says that his children are freezing; EW pierces the heart; Bison breaks open three passages with his horn, dies; UV fills his intestines with his blood, wraps himself in them; the Eagle carries him off, throws him on a rock to his children; UV kills three chicks, leaves a fourth one that can fly; it replies that the father will come when it rains, the mother - the same; UV kills both; descends on the eaglet, kills it; the Eagles turned feathers into all kinds of birds; Owl killed with a glance, the Gophers guarded Owl's house; UV entered Owl's cave, killed everyone there with a club; UV goes to the Killer Antelope; shoots four arrows of different colors in four directions; each time a cloud of the same color appears there, and the Antelope runs there; gets tired; UV tells her to become just an antelope, people will hunt her]: 183-188 (episode with feathers: 187); Zuni[the girl does not marry; one of the rain gods came to her through a hole in the roof; she gave birth to a boy, he grew up right away, he needs a bow; 1) the mother is forced to say that the tree for the bow grows in the cave; there is a bear, he teaches the young man to make a bow; he invites him to his place, offers to shoot him with an arrow with a coal tip, in fact, the tip is obsidian, the bear is killed; 2) the young man asks his mother if there are any more monsters; they are lizards that spit poison, he kills them, hangs their hearts next to the bear's heart; 2) kills a cannibal giant, the giant's children think that a hero has been killed, they eat their father, recognize him by the tuft of hair on his head; the young man killed the children too, threw two into the air, they turned into a falcon and an owl; 4) a gopher dug a passage under a huge elk or bison, gnawed off the wool under the heart, the young man pierced the heart; 5) made armor from bison skin, wound a bison gut with blood around his neck; the Eagle attacks, the gut bursts, the Eagle thinks that the prey is dead, takes it to the children in the nest; the young man kills the Eagle, the eaglets; the Bat began to lower him, he opened his eyes, both fell, but alive; he gave her eagle feathers, told her not to go where the flowers were; she went through a field of flowers, the feathers turned into various small birds]: Cushing 1901: 65-92.

NW Mexico. Yaqui : Giddings 1959 [man-eating bird lives on mountain, carries off husband of young pregnant woman; she gives birth to boy; bird carries off grandmother, mother; grandfather tells grandson what happened; young man makes shelter under tree where nest is, kills bird with arrows; makes four kinds of owls from its feathers, then all kinds of birds; pieces of meat turn into pumas, other cats, foxes, raccoons, coyotes, snakes – anything with teeth; general feast]: 36-38; Olmos Aguilara 2005 [terrible feathered creature carries off, eats pregnant woman, twins escape from her womb, grandmother raises them; they defeat, kill monster; bones turn into mountain (Cerro de los Huesos), feathers into all kinds of birds]: 210-211.

Mesoamerica. Huastecs [a huge eagle (gavilám) ate people; the youth Heart of Corn promises the girl destined to be eaten to kill the eagle; he takes a kernel of corn from his hand, from which they boiled an atole in a large vessel; when the eagle descends, CK pushes it into the hot atole, the people finish off the bird; from each feather a new eagle emerges, but of normal size, not a man-eater (origin of eagles)]: Relatos Huastecos 1994: 100-107; (cf. Nahuatl San Luis Potosi [body parts into birds? (the eagle was cut into pieces, they flew]: Croft 1957: 329).

Southern Venezuela. Sanema : Wilbert, Simoneau 1990b, no. 82 [Colchester 1981: 39–40; it was night, the people were shivering with cold, a large curasso was crying mournfully; it was struck by an arrow, its feathers flew away, they became birds of different kinds according to their size; it was day], 83 [Colchester 1981: 40–41; during the long night the monkeys had painted themselves with urucu, charcoal, and ashes, and acquired their present coloring; the people killed the curasso, the bird of the night; its feathers turned into all the songbirds, it was morning]: 175–176, 177.

Guiana. Waiwai Fock 1963 [a man discovers another man hunting monkeys in the form of a harpy eagle; he tells his wife, who tells the wife of the man who takes the form of an eagle; the eagle's wife tells her husband she will no longer eat the meat he brings because it is spit on; the husband turns himself and his son into a harpy eagle, both fly away; the people are carried off; an old woman agrees to be bait; a rope is tied to her; the eagle carries the old woman off, the rope unwinds, the people find a tree with eagles on it; arrows fly past; those who go to look for them are carried off by the eagles; only the wife's brother {brother-in-law; possibly classificatory, i.e. the man with whom the story begins} kills the eagles with arrows; the people pluck out their down and feathers; [the feathers from the chest turn into hawks, the feathers from the wings into eagles]: 79-81.

Eastern Brazil. In all birds. Apinaye (Mehin): Wilbert 1978, no. 172 [a huge eagle settled in a jatoba palm tree, the people fled, a couple of old people and their grandchildren Kenkutá and Akréti remained, the eagle ate their parents; the grandfather is surprised how easily A. catches up with and kills other birds; the brothers stay to live in a hut by the river, the grandfather brings food there, makes clubs for them; the tapir they kill is called a rat by the brothers; the grandfather builds a hut at the foot of the jatoba, A. lures the eagle out, hides in the hut; K., less nimbly, does the same; the eagle is exhausted, the brothers finish it off with clubs; the grandfather plucks it, blows its feathers in the wind, they turn into various birds; another huge bird Kukád lives on a cliff, cuts off people's heads with its beak; grandfather builds a hut there, A. lures the bird out, hides; K. doesn't make it in time, the bird cuts off his head; A. leaves K.'s head on a branch, can't lure the bird out anymore, goes off to look for people, meets the Serieme people, the black arara people, the monkey people, each group tells what it is doing; A. finds fellow tribesmen, gets married, brings meat (rhea) to his father-in-law and mother-in-law; calls his wife for honey, offers to put his hand in a hollow, his hand gets stuck, A. kills his wife, roasts her meat, brings it to the village; the brother of the murdered woman guesses what he was given, finds his sister's head and bones; people push A. into the hot coals; his ashes turn into a nest of earth termites], 176 [Pompeu Sobrinho 1935: 192-194; the huge Hoktí hawk devoured people; those who were still alive were afraid to leave the house, weakened by hunger; Kenegumã and his brother Waiitôme asked their uncle and his wife to leave them in a well-built hut for young men and feed them well; K. periodically stuck his finger through; one day the aunt saw that the finger was well-fed, which meant that the young men had become strong; they built a house near the hokti’s dwelling, the uncle gave him a wooden sword; K. was dissatisfied with the sword, the uncle made another one – heavier and larger; W. went out and hid again, the hokti spent his strength trying to grab him; when he was completely tired, K. killed him with a sword; the carcass was brought to the village, plucked, and all the birds emerged from the feathers]: 451-454, 466-167; Kayapo: Wilbert 1978, no. 173 [two boys watch as the flying monster Ok-tí carries off their father's sister; noticing that objects appear larger underwater, the boys' father keeps them in a box underwater; the boys gain strength and easily catch game; they hide in a shelter under the O.'s nest, repeatedly lure him out with the sounds of a horn, and kill him when exhausted with clubs; people eat the O., the brothers scatter his feathers, which turn into birds of different colors depending on which feather they emerged from; from then on, the men make a hut in the village in which they prepare weapons, and wear feathers in their hair]: 456-457; Wilbert, Simoneau 1984a, no. 136 (shikrin) [Vidal 1977: 224-225; In front of Kukrut-uíre and Kukrut-kako, the hawk Okti carried off their grandmother; the grandfather put the boys in a pond and fed them well; they grow quickly; after 40 days their legs stretched out to the other bank, the fish and crocodiles think they are fallen trees; the grandfather made a club, a spear and a horn; the slime was wiped off the youth and the uruku was painted red; the dede made a hut for shelter; one of the brothers went out and teased the okti, then hid again; the okti swooped down, but there was no one; when the okti ran out of strength, the brothers killed him; the plucked feathers turned into various birds], 137 (pau d'arco) [Nimuendaju; in front of Akrết and Kenkutấ, the falcon Agaikríti carried off their grandmother; put them in the river, leaving their heads on the bank, fed them; when they grew so much that their feet almost reached the other bank, the grandfather washed them from the slime and painted them red with uruku; the grandfather built a shelter under the tree where the nest was, made a wooden club for each; the brothers whistled, swooped down like a falcon, saw no one; when he got tired, the brothers killed him, the feathers became different birds; in the same village lived Nyére; he killed children with a pestle, fried and ate them; the brothers killed him, others attacked them, but the brothers beat them]: 414-416, 417-418; collapse: Wilbert 1978, No. 170 [(Schultz 1950: 93-112); people lived near a tree that supported the sky; a harpy eagle carried a boy to a nest on a cliff and fed him to its chicks; nightjars flew around at night and cut off people's heads; people put a ladder against the tree, climbed up to an opening in the sky, went up to the sky, and threw away the ladder; an old man with his wife and two grandchildren accidentally remained on the earth; the elder brother A-krey could turn into animals, the younger Kengunã could not; the grandfather made a platform in the water for his grandchildren, they lay in the water to become strong, to take revenge on the birds for the death of their father; the brothers killed a huge emu, scattered its feathers, and they became today's birds; the same with a large partridge (the grandfather always does not believe that the brothers will be able to approach the monsters unnoticed); grandfather made a shelter under a rock where birds lived; K. would jump out and then hide in the shelter, teasing the eagle; it became exhausted, K. killed it; A. also wanted to try, but a nightjar cut off his head; K. put it on the fork of a tree, the head became a swarm of bees; K. went to look for another tribe; saw how emu, coati, monkeys, tapir burn grass, trees in order to get larvae, fruits; K. himself is from the kraho tribe, i.e. pacas (kraho - pacas); he met a girl from the coati tribe, became her husband; he is a good hunter, everyone is happy]: 424-446; Wilbert, Simoneau 1984a, No. 135 [feathers of a man-eating bird]: 411-412; apaniekra [Pompeu Sobrinho 1935: 192-194; a huge hawk Hokti devoured people; those who were still alive were afraid to leave the house, weakened from hunger; Kenegumã and his brother Waiitôme asked their uncle and his wife to leave them in a well-built hut for young men and feed them well; K. periodically stuck his finger through; one day the aunt saw that the finger was well-fed - it meant that the young men had become strong; they built a house near the Hokti's dwelling, the uncle gave him a wooden sword; K. was dissatisfied with the sword, the uncle made another - heavier and larger; W. went out and hid again, the Hokti spent his strength trying to grab him; when he was completely tired, K. killed him with a sword; the carcass was brought to the village, plucked, all the birds emerged from the feathers]: Wilbert 1978, No. 176: 466-167; ramkokamekra [the daughter of Kokodyótómre and her daughter's husband were eaten by the giant harpy eagle Hakti; Kokodyótómre and his wife raise their grandchildren Akréi and Kenkunã; they build a hut by the river, live there, become strong; make a shelter at the foot of the tree on which H. has a nest; sometimes they show themselves to him, sometimes they hide in the hut, exhausting H., killing him with a club; a Nightjar lives in the cave, cutting off people's heads with his beak; he killed A.; Kenkunã left his brother's head in the fork of a tree where there is a bees' nest; looking for the people who have left, he asks the birds; the Nandu say that they passed a year ago, the Seriema say that they passed two or three days ago; Kenkunã finds the people; Kokodyótómre and his wife were wandering through the savannah; at the mountain the husband went to the right, told his wife to go to the left; having separated, both turned into anteaters; Kokodyótómre was killed by hunters; the wife waited, cried and left alone]: Wilbert 1978, no. 175: 461-463.