120 THE MAGPIE. 
And the crafty and dissembling Iago remarks that— 
“When my outward action doth demonstrate 
The native act and figure of my heart 
In compliment extern, ’tis not long after 
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve 
For daws to peck at.” 
Othello, Act i. Sc. 1. 
With the ancients, much superstition prevailed in regard 
to various species of the crow family ; and Shakespeare has 
specially mentioned three of these as birds of omen :— 
“ Augurs that understood relations have, 
By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought forth 
The secret’st man of blood.” 
Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 4. 
Even at the present day, there are many who profess to 
augur good or evil from the flight of a magpie, or from 
the number of magpies seen together at one time. An 
old rhyme on the subject runs thus :— 
“One for sorrow, two for mirth ; 
Three for a wedding, four for a birth.” 
The origin of the word magpie we have not heard 
explained, but it is possible, from the manner in which 
the name is spelled above, that “mag” may be an abbre- 
viation of “maggot,” pointing to a certain propensity of 
the bird, which, however, is not peculiar. Those who have 
spent much time in the country, must have observed not 
