Graveyard Dust to Kill

“Some witches are said to kill people with graveyard dirt, which is dust scraped from a grave with the left forefinger at midnight. This is mixed with the blood of a black bird; a raven or crow is best, but a black chicken will do in a pinch. The witch ties this mixture up in a rag which has touched a corpse and buries it under the doorstep of the person who is to be liquidated.”

Ozark Magic and Folklore by Vance Randolph

Those of you familiar with other forms of folk magic will see a great similarity here, especially between this particular spell and the workings of Hoodoo.

Here in the Ozarks, Black Animals are often died to the Devil in folk belief, so the use of a black bird of any sort is understood. I have only heard of this being done with a chicken personally.