272 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



nest, so that it could not possibly have been a case of 

 the same birds or the same family returning to a favourite 

 haunt. That little valley, indeed, bred no magpies. 

 It was merely a source of loss to the species, yet they 

 would not forsake it, and probably still try to breed there. 



The nest, with its thorny roof and side entrance has 

 so often been the subject of comment that further descrip- 

 tion would be superfluous. Often it is placed in the 

 top of a high hedge, so completely barricaded by thorny 

 branches as to be quite inaccessible, sometimes in the 

 topmost branches of an elm, but in the hills of the north, 

 generally in some fir thicket which serves to break the 

 wind and to hide the nest from view. If a pair are 

 successful in bringing off their brood, they return to the 

 same nest the following year, and often year after year, 

 renovating and repairing a little on each return. 



Though in England and Scotland the magpie, like the 

 jay, to-day clings to certain familiar haunts, it is plentiful 

 everywhere in Ireland. It is not, however, indigenous 

 to that country, and Yarrell remarks that there is a 

 widespread belief among the Irish that it was introduced 

 there by the English out of spite ! 



As intimated, the young remain with their parents 

 generally about the locality of their birth during the 

 summer, and it is interesting to watch them foraging. 

 Leaving the home wood they set out in a broken string, 

 generally in pairs, a hundred yards or so between each 

 pair. Here one of them dives into a thorny thicket to 

 explore its dark recesses, while the other alights in the 

 growing corn, and proceeds to run hither and thither, 

 much like a giant pied wagtail in manners as in looks. 

 He seems veritably to change colours, now white, now 

 black, as the sunlight falls at different angles on his^ 

 radiant plumage, and at intervals he jerks his tail upwards 

 as though to attract attention to himself. He is a very! 



