184 



BIEDS. 



Xutcracl-er. — An irregular visitor from the North. It 

 is easily recognised by the brownish white spots with which 

 the plumage is thickly covered. Its food is not, like that 

 of the nuthatch, even chiefly nuts, as it poaches game and 

 eggs like the rest of the group. The seeds of pine and fir 

 trees are also largely eaten. 



Though lacking the brighter colouring of the jay, the 

 Magpie is, perhaps by reason of the sharp contrasts afforded 



by the black and white of the plumage, the most attrac- 

 tive, as well as the most conspicuous, of our Corvidte. 



