Matinta Perera, the Whistler
In the Brazilian Amazon, a shrill whistle at night outside your house means you should promise the whistler some tobacco. The next day, an old woman will come to collect it.
What was reported
Matinta Perera is a figure of folklore in the state of Pará. At night she takes the form of a bird and perches near a house, letting out a piercing whistle that won't stop.
To silence it, someone in the house calls out a promise: tobacco, coffee or fish. The next morning an old woman knocks at the door asking for what was promised. Refuse her, and bad luck follows.
Explanations offered
The legend probably draws on Tupi beliefs about birds as messengers, and on the call of a real bird, perhaps a cuckoo heard at night. It's still told across the Amazon and appears in Brazilian films.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Belém, Pará, Brazil
- Witnesses
- Amazonian folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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