A CROW IN COLOURS 



From bough to bough the restless magpie roves, 

 And chatters as she flies. 



THE magpie has been well called a crow in 

 gay attire. The two species are related, 

 and, as regards character, they are " birds 

 of a feather." Both are bold, bad creatures, 

 both rogues, thieves, and villains, and, as such, both 

 appeal to me. The magpie with which we are familiar 

 in England can scarcely be called an Indian bird. It 

 does disport itself in happy Kashmir, and has been seen 

 in the uninviting tract of land over which the Khan of 

 Khelat presides. But India, as defined in the Income 

 Tax Act, extends neither to Kashmir nor to Baluchistan, 

 hence Pica rustica may decline to be considered an 

 Indian subject. In this land of many trials his place 

 is taken by his cousins the tree-pies. One of these — 

 the Indian tree-pie {Dendrocita rufd) — is distributed 

 throughout the plains of India, at least, so the 

 books tell us. As a matter of fact, I have never seen 

 the bird in or about Madras. This is curious, 

 for Madras is a garden city (I speak not of George- 

 town), and the bird ought to revel in the well- 

 wooded compounds which beautify the capital of the 

 Southern Presidency. Lest its absence from Madras 

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