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 
c;hat 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. 
