The name of the day comes from the church date of veneration of St. Sylvester I, Pope of Rome in the 4th century. Among the Sylvester people, the day was called the Chicken Holiday, and the owners took care of the birds. On Sylvester's day the frost and snowstorm usually intensified. It was believed that the cold drove the twelve daughters of Herod out of hell. If on Sylvester's day the roosters crowed earlier and the geese trampled in the snow, people expected warmer weather. A magpie hiding near the roof meant impending snowfall.