EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 227 



specimens are bluish-green in ground-colour, richly and boldly 

 spotted and blotched with dark greenish-brown, chiefly at the 

 large end of the egg, and with a few violet-grey underlying spots ; 

 others are much paler in ground-colour, and have the markings 

 smaller, deeper in colour, and more evenly distributed over the 

 entire surface, being deep greenish-brown, olive-brown, and pale 

 grey ; whilst others are the palest of blue, almost white, and 

 quite free from markings. They measure from l'O to 1*3 inch in 

 length, and from l'l to 0'95 inch in breadth. 



THE MAGPIE. 



(Pica caudata.)* 

 Plate 55, Fig. 3. 



The Magpie is generally distributed throughout the British 

 Islands. It is found throughout the Palaearctic region north of 

 the Mediterranean, Syria, South Persia, and the lowlands of 

 Baluchistan. In the Oriental region it is found in the Himalayas, 

 Japan, South China, Formosa, and Hainan ; and in the Nearctic 

 region it occurs throughout the western United States, but only 

 to the east of the Missouri river in winter. 



The nest is very bulky and almost impenetrable, from the fact 

 that the birds usually select sticks with large thorns upon them. 

 The nest-cavity is very deep for its breadth ; and the hole in the 

 side of the basket-like roof, just above the edge of the nest, is 

 generally well concealed. 



From six to eight is the usual number of eggs. They are very 

 small in proportion to the size of the bird, many of them being 

 no larger than exceptionally large eggs of the Blackbird. They 

 vary from bluish to yellowish -green in ground-colour, with 

 greenish-brown markings thickly and evenly distributed over the 

 entire surface. They are subject to considerable variation : some 

 specimens are almost white, with a few pale olive-green markings 

 at the larger end ; whilst others are green in ground-colour, boldly 

 marked with deep brown and a few faint underlying greyish- 

 purple blotches. A less frequent variety is precisely like the 

 eggs of the Pied Wagtail in colour. They measure from 1'45 to 

 125 inch in length, and from l'O to 0'9 inch in breadth. 



* Pica rustica — Saunders, Manual, p. 227. Pica pica — Sharpe, Handb., I., p. 18. 



