Sheerree

(SHRE)

Variations: Strix Nocturna

The Berber people of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco have in their mythology a vampiric bird with a woman's breasts. Preying on newborn and nursing children, the sheerree hunts at night. The fate of the child depends entirely on which breast it is drawn to. If the child suckles from the correct breast, it will live; if it chooses incorrectly, it will die.

Source: American Philological Association, Transactions and Proceedings, 138; Knappert, Aquarian Guide to African Mythology, 39; Tate, Flights of Fancy, 94 ­95