26 



THE AMERICAN MAGPIE. 



tliru the s; 



lirush, poking, prying, spying, and dc\uuring, with the ruth- 



lessness and precisidii of a pestilence. Not only eggs but young birds are 

 appropriated. 1 once saw a Magpie seize a half-grown Meadowlark from 

 its nest, carry it to its own domicile, and parcel it out among its clamoring 



l)rood. Then, in spite of the best 





defense the agonized parents could 

 ^ institute, it calm- 



}• returned and 

 selected another. 

 Sticks and 

 stones 

 shied by 

 the bird- 



Takcn in 1 <i;>/;mi t i.hh/.t. MAOPltS iXhSl l-'KOM ABOVi.. I'liutu bv llic Aullior. 



WITH CANOPY REMOVED. SA.ME NEST AS IN ILLUSTRATION ON PACE 24. 



man luereh- deferred the doom of the remaining larks. The Magpie was 

 not likely to forget the whereabouts of such easy meat. 



Nor is such a connoisseur of eggs likely to overlook the opportunities 

 afiforded by a poultry yard. He becomes an adept at purloining eggs, and 

 can make ofif with his Iwoty with astonishing ease. One early morning, 

 seeing a Magjiie fly O'ver the corral with something large and white in his 

 bill, and believing that he had alighted not far beyond, I followed quickly 

 and frightened him from a large hen's egg, which bore externally the marks 



