572 nCA MELANOLEUCA. 



mer. Lame though she was, she still carried on her murderous 

 operations. One day he perceived her in pursuit of a duckling. 

 It immediately ran to the water for protection. So intent, 

 however, was she upon its destruction, that she ventured too 

 far in after it, and got herself so wet, that before she was able 

 to rise in the air, he knocked her down with a stick. A few 

 years ago, a boy told me, that while he was tending his cattle, 

 he heard several loud screams in a young plantation in my 

 neighbourhood. Being anxious to ascertain the cause of the 

 noise, he immediately ran to the place from whence it proceeded, 

 and, to his astonishment, he beheld a Magpie standing upon 

 the back of a hare almost half grown, picking out its eye, the 

 other having been torn out before his arrival.'** 



Young. — The young when fledged are similar to the old 

 birds, but with the plumage less dense and glossy, and the tail 

 much shorter. It has been asserted that the tails of young 

 birds in general, and of hawks in particular, are longer than 

 those of old individuals of the same species ; but, so far as my 

 observation goes, I believe the contrary to be the case. 



Remarks. — The docility of the Magpie w^hen obtained from 

 the nest renders it an agreeable pet, although it is as apt to be 

 troublesome as the Jackdaw and other tame crows, and pre- 

 cisely in the same way, namely by its superabundant activity, 

 and its propensity to make oft' with whatever object strikes its 

 fancy. Compared with the beautiful glossy bird of the thicket, 

 the domesticated ^lagpie, draggled and mutilated, is a miserable- 

 looking object. Indeed few birds residing at large in the house 

 are otherwise. 



This species resembles the true Crows in the form of its bill 

 more than any of the exotic kinds, which have that organ gene- 

 rally more curved. It is reported by authors as being common 

 in most parts of Europe, and in the north of Asia. I have seen 

 specimens from North America, which diftered in no essential 

 respect from our birds. 



