140 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



however, the young again gave food calls. When placed in a cardboard 

 box they worked their legs rather violently and grasped with their 

 claws, apparently in an attempt to raise their bodies. At the same time 

 they opened their bills and gave cries. They were unable to support 

 their bodies above the flat surface, but they raised their heads the full 

 length of their necks. 



A bird one-third larger than the two just described (133 grams) was 

 able to support itself on its tarsi, and, when placed on the ground, it 

 immediately began to move off through the brush. Through most of the 

 day this bird was kept it was silent, but it became hungry and uttered 

 calls in the afternoon. Other young magpies of about this size kept 

 perfectly quiet and made no sound or move during the whole time they 

 were being examined. 



When disturbed on June 6, five large young in a nest crawled upward 

 inside the tall dome and clung to sticks in its wall. One went through 

 to the outside, but later it returned. Several times these young uttered 

 alarm notes nearly as loud and harsh as those of the parent birds. The 

 next day at noon when this nest was approached the young birds crawled 

 out of it and perched among the branches of the surrounding thicket. 



Wheelock (1904) watched a brood of young magpies through the 

 period of nest-leaving. For several days before time to come out of the 

 nest the four young ones poked their heads out the doorways. On the 

 twenty-second day one hopped out and perched on a branch. The 

 parents meanwhile showed great excitement. When the young bird was 

 approached closely it jumped off its perch and flew or was blown out 

 of the tree. It could not control its long tail, which opened and acted 

 as a sail in the wind. One parent followed this bird while the other 

 one remained with the rest of the brood in the nest. 



A late time for nest-leaving was observed at 6,500 feet in Yellowstone 

 Park by Skinner (MS.), who saw a fully feathered young magpie 

 perched outside a nest on June 22. By July 7 there was no sign of 

 any birds about the site. 



At midday on May 18, 1932, in Nevada, I watched another group of 

 five young magpies out of the nest and able to fly a little. Four were 

 in one thicket and the other was 50 feet away, but all had difficulty in 

 maintaining a balance. Except for their tails being only about 4 inches 

 long, I could scarcely distinguish them at a distance from adults on the 

 basis of feathering. When approached closely the birds moved off 

 through the thicket by short flights and by hopping, and they kept up 

 a scries of harsh notes of alarm. When I was still 100 yards off I 

 saw one parent fly away quietly, and no adult was seen while I was 

 near the young. But as soon as I left there were feeding calls ; probably 

 one of the parents had arrived. 



