Birds' Wedding

Proper noun

Birds' Wedding

1. A custom among the Sorbs (Wends) of Lusatia in Germany, whereby on the evening of January 24th, children place empty plates outside, and on the morning of January 25th, they find pastries, meringues and candy in the form of birds, which are said to have been left for them by birds celebrating their wedding.
   • On 25 January in Upper Lusatia the custom of Ptači kwas (Birds’ Wedding) is observed. … Following the First World War the Birds’ Wedding began to assume a new form, and eventually developed into a popular festival which was given a new impulse after 1945.1972, Gerald Stone, The smallest Slavonic nation: the Sorbs of Lusatia. Athlene Press. pp. 130–31
   • The Birds’ Wedding was a custom especially for Wendish children that went as follows: “On January 25th the children would place empty plates and saucers outside, usually on fence posts and other high places to prevent raids by dogs and cats. The next morning the children would wake up to find the...2004, Allan O. Kownslar, The European Texans, . Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 120