■ THE AMERICAN MAGPIE. 27 



of the Ijird's bill, but whicli was unpiercecl. Of course the oul\- reniedv for 

 sucii a habit is the shot-gun. 



To say that Mag-pies are garrulous would be as trite as to sav hens cackle, 

 and the adjective could not be better defined than "talking like a Magpie." 

 The Magpie is the symbol of lo(|uacity. The very type in which this is 

 printed is small pica: that is small Magpie. Much of this bird's conversation 

 is undoubtedly untit for print, but it has always the merit of vivacity. A 

 party of Magpies will keep up a running commentary on current events, now 

 faceti(jus, now vehement, as they move about ; while a comparative cessation 

 of the racket means, as likely as not, that some favorite raconteur is holding 

 forth, and that there will be an explosion of riotous laughter when his tale 

 is done. The pie, like Nero, aspires to song; but no s\-coi)hant will be 

 found to praise him, for he intersperses his more tuneful nnisings with 

 chacks and barks and harsh interjections which betray a disordered taste. In 

 modulation and quality, however, the notes sometimes verge upon the human ; 

 and it is well known that Magpies can be instructed until they acquire a 

 handsome repertoire of speech. 



In order that their double quartet of youngsters may be lined up for 

 the egg har\'est, the Magpies take an early start at home building. April is 

 the nesting month, Init I have two records for March 30th, — one of five 

 eggs at Chelan, and one cA eight in Yakima County. In the latter instance 

 the first tgg must have been deposited not later than March iSth. And 

 because the season affords him no protection, the Magpie resorts to two 

 expedients in nest building in lieu of concealment: he first seeks retirement, 

 the depths of some lonesome swamp, an unfrequented draw. (>r wooded 

 spring, in the foothills, and then he erects a castle which would do' credit 

 to a feudal baron. The nest is a ball of interlacing sticks set about a hollow 

 half-sphere of dried mud. The amount of labor expended upon one of 

 these structures is prodigious. The greasewood nest shown in the accompany- 

 ing cut is three feet deep and two feet thru, and the component sticks are 

 so firml}' interwoven that no ordinarx' agencv, short of the human hand, can 

 efYect an entrance. The bird enters thru an obscure passage in one side, 

 and, if surprised upon the nest, has always a way of escape planned thru 

 the opposite wall. The mud cup is carefully shaped with walls an inch or 

 two in thickness, a total breadth of eight or ten inches, and a like depth. In 

 the best construction this cavity is filled to a depth of three or four inches 

 with a loose mat of fine twigs of a uniform size. Upon this in turn is placed 

 a coiled mattress of fine, clean rootlets, the whole affording a verv sanitary 

 arrangement. 



Another fortress, of single construction, was four feet deep and three 

 and a half feet thru : and that, too, after making liberal allowance for chance 

 projections. The component sticks measure up to three feet in length and 



