THE AMERICAN MAGPIE. 



29 



Tliis histiiric pile is in marked contrast tO' one sighted in a willow on 

 the hanks of Crab Creek near Odessa. My attention was attracted to the 

 spot by a scuffle, which took place between a Magpie and a pair of Kingbirds: 

 and when I started to examine the nest, I was in honest doubt whether it 

 might not l>elong tn the Kingbirds. The foundation was of mud, but this 

 came near constituting the outside of the nest instead oi the inside. The 

 action of the wind upon the willows had compressed the mud bowl to a boat- 

 shaped receptacle wherein lay five brown beauties, unmistakable Magpies' 

 eggs. There was a copicnis lining of rootlets, and a light half-cover of 

 thorn twigs: but the whole structure was not over a foot in diameter and 

 scarcely that in depth. 



Magpies, like Blue Jays, are discreetly quiet in 

 , nesting time, and 



especially so if 

 they have attempt- 

 ed t(i nest in the 

 ^\^' * * ' ' ' '\ \ i i / iBw \'icinit\' of a farm- 



S>i»^'V, \ \\l ill liMl / house.' W h e n 



dri\'en to the hills 

 by p e r s e c u t i on 

 they accept any 

 shelter, and will 

 nest in grease- 

 wood, sage-brush, 

 or even on the ground. 

 Arbors of clematis (cle- 

 matis Hgitsficifolia) of- 

 fer occasional conceal- 

 ment, but thornapples 

 (Cratcrgiis cohiuibian- 

 II III. etc.) afford the 

 safest retreat. A ]\Iag- 

 pie snugly ensconced 

 in a thornapple fortress 

 may well bid defiance 

 to any retributive agen- 

 cy short of man. .\mi mg se\eral scores of nests 1 never saw one in a pine tree 

 in the Yakima ciiuntr\-, yet these are freely utilized in Chelan, Okanogan, and 

 Spokane Counties. Indeed, in these latter localities there is a suspicion of 

 dawning ])reference fur the tree-tops and difticult climbs. On the Columbia 

 River I once found a family of Mag])ies occupying the basement of a huge 



Taken near Sf^okanc 

 Photo by Fred S. Merrill. 



YOUNG M.'^GPIE. 



