The Magpie. 273 



was quite mute, and seemed pensive and melancholy. 

 This surprised all who knew it ; and they supposed the 

 sound of the trumpets had so stunned the bird as to 

 deprive it at the same time of voice and hearing. This, 

 however, was not the case ; for, says the writer, the bird 

 had been all the time occupied in profound meditation, 

 and was studying how to imitate the sound of the 

 trumpets ; accordingly, in the first attempt, it perfectly 

 imitated all their repetitions, stops, and changes. This 

 new lesson, however, made it entirely forget everything 

 that it had learned before. 



The Magpie feeds on everything ; worms, insects, 

 meat, cheese, bread, milk, and all kinds of seeds, and 

 also on small birds, when they come in its way : the 

 young of the blackbird and of the thrush, and even a 

 strayed chicken, often fall a prey to its rapacity. It is 

 fond of hiding pieces of money or wearing apparel, which 

 it carries away by stealth, and with much dexterity, to 

 its hole. Its cunning is also remarked in the manner 

 of making its nest, which it covers all over with haw- 

 thorn branches, the thorns sticking outward ; within, it 

 is lined with fibrous roots, wool, and long grass, and then 

 plastered all round with mud and clay. The canopy 

 above is composed of the sharpest thorns, woven together 

 in such a manner as to deny all entrance except at the 

 door, which is just large enough to permit egress and 

 regress to the owners. In this fortress the birds bring 

 up their brood with security, safe from all attacks, but 

 those of the climbing schoolboy, who often finds his torn 

 and bloody hands too dear a price for the eggs or the 

 young ones. 



There are many superstitions respecting Magpies ; and 

 it is singular that in all the southern and middle districts 

 of England, two Magpies together are thought to betoken 

 luck ; while in Lancashire, and other northern counties, 

 they are thought to betoken misfortune. The chattering 

 of Magpies was formerly supposed to foretell the arrival 

 of strangers. 



