152 DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



singing nightingall, nor chattering pye, nor undermining 

 moule." 



I have heard a quaint old saying that : 

 One's mirth, two's grief, 

 Three's a wedding, four's death, 

 Five's heaven, six is hell, 

 Sen's the devil's ain sel'. 



Dyer gives another version of this rhyme as follows : 

 One is sorrow, two mirth, 

 Three a wedding, four a birth, 

 Five heaven, six hell, 

 Seven the de'il's ain sell. 



According to Dyer, in Morayshire it is believed that Magpies 

 flying near the windows of a house portend a speedy death 

 to some inmate, a belief which is held in other parts in 

 connexion with various species of birds. Dyer says that 

 " an old tradition " explains the origin of the ill-luck 

 attributed to meeting a Magpie, by the supposition that it 

 was the only bird that refused to enter the Ark with Noah, 

 preferring to perch on the roof and jabber over the drowning 

 world ; but of course this is an idle tale and the real reason 

 must be that it is a survival of totemism. Halliwell 

 (" Popular Rhymes ") relates a popular legend accounting 

 for the half nest of the Magpie, to the effect that this bird, 

 once upon a time, was the only bird unable to build a nest, 

 and that the other birds undertook to instruct her. In 

 response, however, to every piece of advice the Magpie 

 kept repeating " Ah ! I knew that afore," until their 

 patience being exhausted, they left her to finish it herself, 

 with tne result that to this day the Magpie's nest remains 

 incomplete. 



A provincial belief, according to Inwards, is that when 

 Magpies fly abroad singly, the weather either is or will 

 soon be stormy, but when both birds are seen together the 

 weather will be mild. 



MAGPIE : The LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE is sometimes so 

 called, on account of its long tail. 



MAGPIE DIVER : The SMEW. On account of its pied plumage. 



MAIDEN DUCK : The SHOVELER. (Wexford.) 



MALDUCK : The FULMAR. (Shetlands.) See Mallemuck. 



MALE : The KNOT. (Essex.) 



MALLARD and WILD DUCK [No. 287, MALLARD]. The 

 names "Mallard" and "Wild Duck" both occur in Barlow's 

 plates (1655), Mallard being the male name (Fr. malart] ; 

 the female should be termed Wild Duck. The name occurs 



