"The search after food,[143] as we agreed on a former occasion, is the
principal cause why animals change their places. The different tribes of
wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take place; and I
remember once in Italy, having been long waiting, in the end of March,
for the arrival of double snipe, in the campagna of Rome; a great flight
appeared on the third of April, and the day after, heavy rain set in,
which greatly interfered with my sport. The vulture, upon the same
principle, follows armies; and I have no doubt that the augury of the
ancients was a good deal founded upon the observation of the instinct of
birds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same
source. For anglers, in spring, it is always unluckly to see single
magpies; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen; and the
reason is, that in cold and stormy weather, one magpie alone leaves the
nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs of the
young ones: but, when two go out together, it is only when the weather
is mild and warm, and favourable for fishing.
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