A. Because when magpies fly abroad singly, the weather is cold and stormy; but when both birds fly out together, the weather is warm and mild, which is favourable for fishing.
Q. Why do sea gulls fly about the sea in fine weather?
A. Because they live upon fish, which are found near the surface of the sea in fine weather.
Q. Why may we expect stormy rains, when sea gulls assemble on the land?
A. Because the fish (on which they live) leave the surface of the sea in stormy weather, and go down too deep for the gulls to get at them; they are obliged, therefore, to feed on the worms and larvæ which are driven out of the ground at such times.
Q. Why does the petrel always fly to the sea during a storm?
A. Because the petrel lives upon sea insects, which are always to be found in abundance about the spray of swelling waves.
(The Petrel is a bird of the duck-kind, which lives in the open sea. They run on the top of the sea, and are called Petrels, or rather Peter-els, from “St. Peter,” in allusion to his walking on the sea, to go to Jesus.)
Q. Why do candles and lamps spirt when rain is at hand?