YELLOW-BILLliD MAGPIE l6l 



By late March, usually, food begging by females is conspicuous in 

 yellow-billed magpie behavior. This is near the time of the start of in- 

 cubation. In one such example the female of a pair was first noted 

 perched just outside the nest, uttering the loud food-begging call. 

 Later when the birds were back at the nest after an absence, they lit 

 side by side, the female begging with widely spread wings, but no feeding 

 was seen. Next it appeared that the male led the way to the nest, and 

 when the female came near to it the male quickly left and the female en- 

 tered and became quiet. It may be that the male thus coaxes the female 

 back onto the nest to incubate when the urge is not strong, possibly in 

 the early stages. 



By the time all females are incubating, the late afternoon seems to 

 be a normal hour for the female to come off and beg for food from the 

 male. Males appear still reluctant to feed their mates, especially away 

 from the nest, and they usually avoid the begging female, which crowds 

 near with waving wings. At the nest they appear more tolerant, and it 

 seems certain that feeding takes place at the nest as an inducement for 

 the female to resume brooding. Often the feeding takes place wholly 

 within the nest. 



Late in the incubation period the brooding female appears restless 

 and leaves the nest more often than in early stages. Then the feeding 

 usually takes place in a tree but away from the nest itself. Usually 

 the female flies out to meet the male on some nearby perch. It is pos- 

 sible also that the impulse to feed the female latterly becomes weaker in 

 the male. They do not then, however, try to avoid the begging bird 

 but will feed whenever she comes near. Sometimes, though, the female 

 continues the pursuit and begging after it has received the food. 



The forage range of individual male magpies during the incubation 

 period varies from the near neighborhood of the nest to a place more 

 than half a mile distant. Sometimes the bird hunts for food on the 

 limbs and among the foliage of a tree, but oftener the foraging is done 

 on the surface of the ground. A male from one nest tends to fly off in 

 the same direction on all trips each day, but this direction may vary 

 through the whole period. All the birds of a colony may forage over 

 the same ground, or they may go in different directions, but, so far as I 

 have been able to determine, they then ordinarily pay little attention to 

 any magpie other than the brooding mate. 



The mate-feeding is quickly terminated upon hatching of the young, 

 and with the cessation of the persistent, loud calls, which are a part of 

 the food-begging, the nesting colony becomes suddenly silent and the 

 behavior is inconspicuous. 



Presence of other birds about the nest is discouraged sometimes by 



