270 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



eventually the bird took to waiting at the hives and 

 killing every bee which came out, till the earth surrounding 

 him was littered with their corpses, it was finally decided 

 that Jock did not pay his way. A length of picture cord 

 with a running noose passed through a keyhole provided 

 an end more merciful than poor Jock could have expected 

 by Nature's ordinary course. 



An eminent naturalist has said that the kind of dis- 

 position which remembers evil and long works for 

 vengeance is peculiar to man, but I have no doubt what- 

 ever that this particular magpie had been stung by a 

 bee, hence the subsequent carnage by the hive. 



But, whatever the sins of the magpie, it must be said 

 that in their home lives they have much to recommend 

 them. Jock sticks to his mate for life when circumstances 

 permit, but, being a gay dog, he very soon finds a second 

 mate should he lose the first. Thus, if wife number one, 

 the mother of a fine clutch of eggs, meets her fate ere 

 they are hatched, Jock comes along next morning with 

 a new wife to carry on the good work. I suppose he 

 prefers this course to sitting the eggs himself, as some 

 of the male hawks do after the female is killed, and 

 certainly he deserves the highest credit for his fore- 

 thought and enterprise. ** See, my dear,'' he doubtless 

 addresses her, *' I offer you a nest complete with a 

 promising clutch of eggs, no trouble about building, no 

 more eggs necessary, all you have to do is just sit tight 

 till they hatch ! " 



Could any eligible lady magpie, finding the season 

 far spent and herself still a spinster, reject such a pros- 

 pect ? Yet, imagine her remarks regarding the previous 

 lady should the eggs prove unfertile ! 



Mr. Tom Speedy describes how he shot six magpies 

 from the same nest during successive mornings. The 

 unlucky widower must, in this instance, have advertised 



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