144 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



November, December, and January forces the magpie to adopt a diet 

 that is more than 60 per cent vegetable, while in May the abundance 

 of animal food permits it to reduce the vegetable portion of its diet to 

 8 per cent of the total." 



The notion is widespread that magpies provide a serious threat to all 

 kinds of birds in their vicinity by robbing nests and eating the eggs or 

 young, but the evidence to support this opinion is scanty. The manner 

 in which some smaller birds drive magpies from the vicinity of their 

 nests indicates that they recognize a potential danger to their young. 

 On several occasions I have seen Brewer's and red-winged blackbirds, 

 from nesting colonies, chasing magpies. In a group of blackbird nests 

 a magpie could reap an appreciable harvest of food. 



A magpie has been observed (Wheelock, 1904) taking both eggs and 

 young from nests of tree swallows in hollow piles of a deserted pier at 

 Lake Tahoe, Calif. This bird, a male, would search over the colony of 

 swallows, and wherever the size of the opening to the nest c.avity per- 

 mitted it would reach in and take the contents, eggs, or young. These 

 were then carried and given to the brooding female magpie. Young 

 domesticated chickens were also taken by this bird. 



Kalmbach's (1927) thorough study of the magpie led him to the 

 conclusion that depredations against smaller birds are primarily in the 

 breeding season and that the "serious cases of bird destruction reported 

 against the magpie are probably localized or due to some peculiar 

 environmental factor, as lack of c.over for the birds attacked, an over- 

 abundance of magpies, or scarcity of other food." Only 8 of 313 stom- 

 achs contained remains of wild birds. Specific identifications could 

 not be made. Remains of eggs of native birds were found in two 

 stomachs, "those of a robin and what appeared to be those of a shorebird 

 being recognized." Three young from the Bear River marshes in 

 Utah had been fed portions of coots, "probably disabled by alkali poison- 

 ing." 



In this connection the significant observation was made by Saunders 

 (1914) in an area near Choteau, Mont., that the magpies nested earlier 

 than other kinds of birds. After nesting they left the area so that 

 smaller birds there were not molested by them. 



Behavior. — The general manner of a magpie is that of a bird well 

 able to take care of itself. It is extremely suspicious yet is inquisitive 

 to a high degree. It takes alarm quickly and rushes away from threat- 

 ening danger, but it responds to kindness and is easily tamed. 



Much of a magpie's time is spent on the ground in search of food. 

 The walk is somewhat jerky, but it has been characterized as being 

 graceful. The tail is slightly elevated and is constantly twitched. When 



