PIE 721 



neighbour of every farmer, as it formerly Avas in England if not in 

 Scotland also. Though now common enough in Ireland, there 

 is ample evidence ^ to prove that it did not exist in that country in 

 1617, when Fy nes Morison ^ wrote his Itinerary, and that adduced 

 by Mr, Barrett-Hamilton {Zool. 1891, pp. 247-249) shews that 

 it first appeared about 1676, when "a parcel," supposed to have 

 been driven from Wales by stormy weather, landed in Wexford. 

 It is a species that when not molested is extending its range, 

 as Wolley ascertained in Lapland, where within the last century it 

 has been gradually pushing its way along the coast and into the 

 interior from one fishing-station or settler's house to the next, as 

 the country has been peopled. 



Since the persecution to which the Pie has been subjected in 

 Great Britain, its habits have undoubtedly altered greatly in 

 character. It is no longer the merry, saucy hanger-on of the home- 

 stead, as it was to writers of former days, who were constantly 

 alluding to its disposition, but is become the suspicious thief, 

 shunning the gaze of man, and knowing that danger may lurk in 

 every bush. Hence opportunities of observing it fall to the lot of 

 few, and most persons know it only as a curtailed captive in a 

 wicker cage, where its vivacity and natural beauty are lessened or 

 wholly lost. At large few European birds possess greater beauty, 

 the pure white of its scapulars and inner web of the flight-feathers 

 contrasting vividly with the deep glossy black of the rest of its 

 body and wings, while its long tail is lustrous with green, bronze 

 and purple reflexions. The Pie's nest is a wonderfully ingenious 

 structure, whether placed in high trees or low bushes, and is so 

 massively built that it will stand for years. Its foundation consists 

 of stout sticks, turf and clay, wrought into a deep, hollow cup, 

 plastered with earth, and lined with fibres ; but around this is 

 erected a firmly-interwoven, basket-like outwork of thorny twigs, 

 forming a dome over the nest, and leaving but a single hole in the 

 side for entrance and exit, so that the whole structure is rendered 

 almost impregnable. Herein are laid from six to nine eggs, of a 

 pale bluish-green freckled with brown and blotched with ash-colour. 

 Superstition as to the appearance of the Pie still survives even 

 among many educated persons, and there are several versions of a 

 riming adage as to the various turns of luck which its presenting 

 itself, either alone or in company with others, is supposed to 



1 A compendious summary of this will be found in Yarrell's British Birds, 

 ed. 4, ii. pp. 318-320. 



^ His predecessor Derricke, in 1578, said : — 



" No Pies to plucke the Thatch from house, 

 are breed iu Irishe grounde : 

 But worse then Pies, the same to burne, 

 a thousande raaie be founde." — The Image of Irelande, London ; 1581. 



46 



