highest surge. I believe that the reason of this migration of
sea-gulls, and other sea-birds, to the land, is their security of
finding food; and they may be observed, at this time, feeding
greedily on the earth-worms and larva, driven out of the ground by
severe floods: and the fish, on which they prey in fine weather in
the sea, leave the surface and go deeper in storms. The search after
food is the principal cause why animals change their places. The
different tribes of the 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 the double snipe in
the Campagna of Rome, a great flight appeared on the 3rd 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 instincts of birds. There are
many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same source. For
anglers, in spring, it is always unlucky to see single magpies,--but
two may be always 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 or the
young ones; but when two go out together, it is only when the
weather is warm and mild, and favourable for fishing.

_Poiet_. The singular connexions of causes and effects, to
which you have just referred, make superstition less to be wondered
at, particularly amongst the vulgar; and when two facts naturally
unconnected, have been accidentally coincident, it is not singular
that this coincidence should have been observed and registered, and
that omens of the most absurd kind should be trusted in. In the west
of England, half a century ago, a particular hollow noise on the