480 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Magpie of Europe, being of a completely domed form, 

 outwardly composed of small long twigs about the size of a 

 thorn, crossing each other, and but very slightly interwoven : 

 the entrance is in the form of a spout, about half the length 

 of a man's arm, and the twigs are placed in such a manner 

 that the points incline towards each other, rendering it ap- 

 parently impossible for the bird to enter without breaking 

 them, while egress, on the other hand, is very easy ; the nest 

 has a thick inner lining of the fine inner bark of trees and 

 fine grasses. In traversing the pasture-lands at Camden, any 

 part of the Upper Hunter district, and some portions of the 

 Liverpool Plains, the attention of the traveller is often at- 

 tracted by the large nest of this bird ; three or four are often 

 to be seen on the same tree. 



The eggs, which are four in number, and one inch in length 

 by nine lines in breadth, are buffy brown, clouded with dark 

 brown and purple, and streaked with hair-like lines of black, 

 which generally have a tendency to run round the egg ; in 

 some instances, however, they take a diagonal direction, 

 and give the surface a marble-like appearance. 



The food consists of insects of various kinds. 



The sexes do not differ in outward appearance, and may 

 be thus described : — 



Throat, centre of the breast, and a broad stripe over each 

 eye white ; lores and ear-coverts dark brown ; centre of the 

 crown, back, and sides of the neck greyish brown, gradually 

 deepening into very dark brown on the wing-coverts, back, 

 and scapularies ; wings very dark brown, with the exception 

 of the inner webs of the primaries, which are rufous for three- 

 fourths of their length from the base ; tail-coverts and tail 

 black, the latter largely tipped with pure white ; abdomen 

 and flanks dark brown, stained with rusty red ; bill blackish 

 olive brown, except the basal portion of the lower mandible, 

 which is greyish white ; irides in the adult straw-yellow, in 

 the young brown ; feet blackish brown. 



