38 THE BIRDS OF BRECONSHIRE. 
Indeed I know of no bird that is more 
generally noticed in this respect, and the 
old adage,—‘‘ One, sorrow; two, mirth; 
three, a wedding; four, a birth,’—seems 
implicitly believed in by many of the 
country people. The Welsh for Magpie 
is Pioden. 
NUTCRACKER, Wucifraga caryocatactes. 
I have seen but one stuffed specimen 
in Wales, and that was a bird in perfect 
plumage, which was killed many years 
since in the adjoining county of 
Glamorgan. . 
STARLING, Sturnus vulgaris. 
Although this bird breeds here pretty 
plentifully, yet the number that roost in 
the reed-beds of Llangorse Lake during 
the autumn must come from other parts. 
If you are on the lake about four o’clock 
in the afternoon you will see flock after 
flock flying over and pitching in the 
reeds, and this continues until they are 
all come; then with a roar—and no 
other word expresses it—the whole flock 
rises in one living mass, sweeping over 
SRS 
