THE MAGPIES 15 



thought that a hare — he had only seen one — 

 had crossed the green never entered his head, 

 much less that a family of hares was at that 

 moment lying hidden around it. The inquisitive 

 bird was soon joined by his mate, and after a 

 little chatter he flew away with her towards a 

 homestead from which the smoke was just 

 beginning to rise. They alighted on the elder- 

 tree springing from the wall of the rickyard, the 

 white of their plumage very conspicuous in the 

 bright level rays which lit them up and fired the 

 dormer-window of the thatched roof beyond. 

 By and by they dropped into the yard, where 

 amongst the straw they found an egg. They 

 broke and ate it. Then the hen-bird came flying 

 back in great haste to the nest, as if she feared 

 her precious clutch might be chilled and become 

 addled. Later the cock-bird returned to tell 

 her what was happening in the farmyard, and 

 at once flew back to the elder. He was back 

 again in half an hour : indeed he kept flying to 

 and fro until sundown. The hare rejoiced in 

 the restlessness of this arch-mobber of vermin : 

 it gave her a sense of security such as she had 

 not felt since the birth of her young. For her 

 the magpie was an untiring patrol, and further, 

 one gifted with a tongue that would make the 

 boldest fox shrink from the insults it was capable 



