Folio 36v - De pica; the magpie. and Folio 36v - the magpie, continued. De corvo; the raven

COMMENTARY

Text

The magpie. Magpies chatter, sounding like humans. The woodpecker.

Illustration

Four young hoopoe, rhythmically placed in a roundel, clean the eyes and pluck the feathers of their ageing parent.

Comment

The illustration is pricked for pouncing. The splendid initial 'P' is type 3, introducing pica. This page is particularly dirty on the lower left margin, indicating frequent use. A possible sketch in the margin. Initial indicator 'P' at bottom left of illustration.

COMMENTARY

Text

The woodpecker. If a woodpecker sits in a tree, anything fixed to the tree will fall out. The Raven feeds its young well and eats the eyes from corpses.

Illustration

Four elegant magpies sit in a tree where an archer attempts to shoot them. Portrait of a black raven.

Comment

The significance of the hunter attempting to shoot them, not mentioned in the text, is not known. The same image is used in the Ashmole Bestiary f.48v and Oxford, Bod. MS Douce 151. The hunter and raven have been faintly pricked for pouncing. Initial type 2.