142 THE BIKDS 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 Faigland, 

 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 it 

 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 



