52 



IN SESSORES. 



and familiar a bird, is comparatively little known in 

 the United States, its haunts being strictly confined 



to the vast territory 

 lying west of the Mis- 

 flj sissippi, where, in some 

 districts, it appears to 

 be abundant. It is 

 represented as a bold, 

 active, and restless spe- 

 cies, constantly flying 

 from place to place; 

 being possessed of all 

 the voracity peculiar 

 to his tribe, and very 

 fond of the eggs and 

 young of other birds, 

 especially Chickens, 

 Pheasants, and Par- 

 tridges; it will even 

 alight upon the backs of cattle, and peck out the 

 larvae of insects that are secreted in the skin, and is 

 quite well satisfied with carrion if no better food is 

 at hand. 



" In 1804, an exploring party, under the command 

 of Captains Lewis and Clark, on their route to the 

 Pacific Ocean, across the continent, first met with 

 the Magpie somewhere near the great bend of the 

 Missouri, and found that the number of these birds 

 increased as they advanced. Here also the Blue Jay 

 disappeared; as if the territorial boundaries and ju- 

 risdiction of these two noisy and voracious families 



Magpie. 



