142 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 
The appearance of the magpie used to be considered 
as an omen of varied significance according to the num- 
bers seen. ‘This superstition has greatly died out of late 
years, but a rhyme which is still common amongst us, 
and which I have known from a boy, records the popular 
belief as follows :— 
‘One for sorrow, 
And two for mirth, 
Three for a wedding, 
And four for a birth; 
Five for a fiddle, 
And six for a dance, 
Seven for Old England, 
And eight for France!” 
The meaning of the last four lines is not very 
apparent ; perhaps the poet thought his stanza required 
a finish ! 
The Jay (Garrulus glandarius) is one of the most 
beautiful of our native birds; but he bears a bad 
character, from his predatory habits, and suffers accord- 
ingly. The keepers shoot every one they meet with, 
and one cannot go far in our woods without seeing their 
dead bodies dangling from the lower branches of a tree, 
and bleaching in the wind. 
They are lively, restless birds, ever on the watch and 
ready to give the alarm with their harsh cry, whether ite 
be quadruped or biped that appears. When it is pos- 
sible to get near them unperceived (which is rarely the 
case), it is very interesting to watch their quick, active 
motions, the rapid raising and lowering of their crest as 
any other bird flies past, and the inquisitive glance of 
their bright blue eye; the ear too will be saluted with 
varied but not very musical sounds, their own natural 
harsh “wrake, wrake,”’ or an imitation of the cries of 
