AMERICAN MAGPIE 151 



this call, it has a derisive sound. On March 14, 1909, Saunders heard 

 a magpie producing a faint, twittering sound, much as the bkie jay 

 does on some occasions, a sound he now would class as a primitive song. 



The general demeanor of the black-billed magpie was characterized 

 by Grinnell and Storer (1924) as being "decidedly quieter than that of 

 most of the other members of the jay-magpie-crow family. Its voice is 

 far softer than that of the jays, and it does not 'bawl out' intruders as 

 do those birds. Many of its notes are low and pleasant chuckling sounds, 

 recalling certain notes of the California Thrasher. On one occasion one 

 of our party was attracted by a noise arising in a mountain mahogany 

 bush and sounding like two of the branches rubbing together. It proved 

 to come from a black-billed magpie. Even in early fall, when bluejays 

 and nutcrackers are at their noisiest, the magpie is noticeably quiet." 



Magpies have long been favorites among captive birds as pets. Partly 

 this results from the ease with which the black-billed ones may be ob- 

 tained from their nests as young nearly ready to leave. But also it 

 comes from their varied mannerisms and especially their trait, so well 

 exhibited, of learning to imitate words and phrases that they hear in 

 the households of their keepers. The young birds can learn and repeat 

 an amazingly long and varied vocabulary, if we can believe the accounts 

 that have been printed. Just when the limit of plausibility in the stories 

 of their accomplishments is reached is hard to determine. Even the 

 most commonplace of these accounts, however, is rather remarkable. 



Field marks. — Any native bird seen in the United States or north- 

 ward whose length is 15 to 20 inches, with more than half of this tail 

 and with conspicuous pattern of black and white, is a magpie. The large 

 white patches on the wings appear and disappear as the wings open or 

 close. Close examination reveals iridescent greenish blue and bronzy 

 green in the feathers of the wings and tail. Also the sharp line separat- 

 ing the white belly from the black breast, along with the white patches 

 on the shoulders, helps to verify the identification. And the black bill 

 distinguishes the present form from the yellow-billed one occurring only 

 in California. Such a strikingly marked bird should require no characteri- 

 zation for recognition, but a surprisingly large number of people in- 

 quire as to its identity on their first encounter with it. Onc.e learned, it 

 is not soon forgotten. 



Predators and parasites. — Watching the behavior of black-billed mag- 

 pies gives the impression that they are subject to being captured by 

 predators, but there is little direct evidence to demonstrate it. Once in 

 central Nevada I watched a small group of magpies flying about ex- 

 citedly among the desert bushes. Then a prairie falcon flew up carrying 

 a dead magpie, apparently freshly killed. These magpies probably were 



