Northern birds II

In Finnish folklore a raven (korppi, kaarne) symbolized death and evil spirits; it was a witch or the devil in form of an animal. Then again shamans respected these birds a lot and if a hunter got a white feather under raven’s wing, that brought good luck. And one way to treat headache was to drink booze where head of raven was soaked...

Cuckoo (käki, Karelians call it kultakägönen, golden cuckoo) is “an emblem bird” of North Karelia and it’s mentioned in one local folk song called Karjalan kunnailla. The bird does play a big role in the folk poetry. Cuckoo symbolized happiness and announced to young maidens when they will find a husband; if cuckoo called three times, a girl got married after three years.
As for the tales of the Kalevala, after Aino has drowned in the lake and turned into a silvery salmon, cuckoos in the woods are cuckooing to her sad mother. In this passage cuckoo symbolizes sadness and bitterness.