Present_, "are mysterious everywhere. A lady living near Carlstad, in
Sweden, grievously offended a farm woman who came into the court of her
house asking for food. The woman was told 'to take that magpie hanging
upon the wall and eat it.' She took the bird and disappeared, with an
evil glance at the lady, who had been so ill-advised as to insult a
Finn, whose magical powers, it is well known, far exceed those of the
gipsies." (Other authorities corroborate this statement; and I have
heard it said that the Finns can surpass even the famous tricks of the
Indians.) Mr. Jones, in the same story, says: "Presently the number
increased, and the lady, who at first had been amused, became troubled,
and tried to drive them away by various devices. All was to no purpose.
She could not move without a large company of magpies; and they became
at length so daring as to hop on her shoulder." (This reads like
hallucination. However, as I have heard of similar cases, in which there
has been no doubt as to the objectivity of the phenomena, I see no
reason why these magpies should not have been objective too.) "Then she
took to her bed in a room with closed shutters, although even this was
not an effectual protection, for the magpies kept tapping at the
shutters day and night." Mr. Jones adds: "The lady's death is not
recorded; but it is fully expected that, die when she may, all the
magpies of Wermland will be present at her funeral."

There is a house in Great Russell Street, W.C., where the hauntings take
the form of a magpie that taps at one of the windows every morning
between two and three, and then appears inside the room, perched on what
looks like a huge alpine stick, suspended horizontally in the air, about
seven feet from the floor. The moment a sound is made the apparition
vanishes. It is thought to be the spirit of a magpie that was done to
death in a very cruel manner in that room many years ago. There is a
story current to the effect that a lady, when visiting the British
Museum one day, happened to pass some slighting remark about one of the
Egyptian mummy cases (not the notorious one), and that on quitting the
building she felt a sharp peck on her neck. She put up her hand to the
injured part, and felt the distinct impression of a bird's claw on it.
She could see nothing, however. That night--and for every succeeding
night for six weeks--she was awakened at two o'clock by the phantom of
an enormous magpie that fluttered