AVES-MAGPIE. 479 



glosses on its tail, are as fine as any that adorn the most beautiful of the 

 feathered tribe. But it has too many of the qualities of a beau, to depre- 

 ciate these natural perfections : vain, restless, loud, and quarrelsome, it is an 

 unwelcome intruder every where ; and never misses an opportunity, when it 

 finds one, of doing mischief. It is a common bird in Europe and Asia, and 

 in the western territories of the United States. It is remarkable that at 

 the point where these birds are first encountered, in proceeding west, the 

 blue jays disappear. 



The magpie bears a great resemblance to the butcherbird in its bill, which 

 •has a sharp process near the end of the upper chap, as Avell as in the short- 

 ness of its wings, and the form of the tail, each feather shortening from the 

 two middlemost. But it agrees still more in its food, living not only upon 

 worms and insects, but also upon small birds, when they can be seized. A 

 wounded lark, or a young chicken separated from the hen, are sure plunder; 

 and the magpie will even sometimes set upon and strike a blackbird. 



The same insolence prompts it to seize the largest animals when its insults 

 can be offered with security. They are often seen perched upon the back 

 of an ox or a sheep, picking up the insects to be found there, chattering and 

 tormenting the poor animal at the same time, and stretch out their necks for 

 combat, if the beast turns its head backward to apprehend them. They 

 seek out also the nests of birds ; and, if the parent escapes, the eggs make 

 up for the deficiency. The thrush and the blackbird are but too frequently 

 robbed by this assassin, and this in some measure causes their scarcity. 



No food seems to come amiss to this bird ; it shares with ravens in their 

 carrion, with rooks in their grain, and with the cuckoo in their eggs : but it 

 seems possessed of a providence seldom usual with gluttons ; for when it is 

 satisfied for the present, it lays up the remainder of the feast for another 

 occasion. It will even in a tame state hide its food when it has done eat- 

 ing, and after a time return to. the secret hoard with renewed appetite and 

 vociferation. 



In all its habits it discovers a degree of instinct unusual to other birds, its 

 nest is not less remarkable for the manner in which it is composed, than for 

 the place the magpie takes to build it in. The nest is usually placed conspicu- 

 ous enough, either in the middle of some hawthorn bush, or on the top of 

 some high tree. The place, however, is always found difficult of access ; 

 for the tree pitched upon usually grows in some thick hedgerow, fenced by 

 brambles at the root ; or sometimes one of the higher bushes is fixed upon 

 for the purpose. When the place is thus chosen as inaccessible as possible 

 to men, the next care is to fence the nest above, so as to defend it from all 

 the various enemies of the air. The kite, the crow, and the sparrow-hawk 

 are to be guarded against : as their nests have been sometimes plunderer 

 by the magpie, so it is reasonably feared that they will take the first oppor 

 tunity to retaliate. To prevent this, the magpie's nest is built with surpris 

 ing labor and ingenuity. 



