OF THE JOUBNAL OF HOETIOULTUBE. 



29 



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" IVoe" tlian tlicir hostess. They retircii after the first daiieo; 

 ami if tlie comiiany felt the loss of glory in their departure, 

 they got more than a in'oportionate enjoyment in the increase 

 of trceiloni. M. 1". 



THE PET MAGPIE. 



t)ME thirty to thirty-five 

 years hack, when as- 

 siduously engaged in 

 ohtaining spceiniens for 

 my snniU private nui- 

 seum, I lieeame ac- 

 ((uainted with a game- 

 keeper, who, n]) to that 

 time, had iietually nailed 

 everything ho shot 

 ( game excepted) against 

 tlie end of a large l)arn, 

 or some similar l)uihl- 

 ing, as a proof of his 

 prowess in killing al- 

 most cverytliing that 

 came in his way, on the general assumption they were (f// 

 game destroyers. Among many other equally eiToneous im- 

 pressions was one he firmly entertained and stoutly insisted 

 on, to this cflfect, that the night-jar, or fern owl, was the 

 worst of all enemies to the i)artridges, for they eat all their 

 eggs, and he knew they carried them to their young to feed 

 on. lie actually adduced, in confirmation of his assertion, 

 that as they had sueli a large month, the fern owls carried 

 the eggs one at a time away, thus clearing a whole p.artridge's 

 nest in a single night. He also professed to believe that tlicse 

 harmless birds " sucked the goats in some countries ;" and I 

 .ilmost think he was really as superstitious as ho appeared, 

 for he would not accredit that tlie " goat-sucker," as lie 

 called it, fed on cockchafers, and consequently was of benefit 

 to mankind. His aversion to the hedgehog was extreme, for 

 there, before us, were numbers of them nailed up and 

 chrivelled, for crimes of which they certainly were as entirely 

 guiltless as was even the individual who h.ad destroyed them; 

 a bittern, three or four of the short-horned owls, many mag- 

 pies, a variety of hawks, polecats, weasels, stoats, and rats 

 being ranked on the wall in strange incongruity. The house 

 cats, he stated, he always buried, that they might tell no tales. 

 His cottage was very small, carelessly kept, and stood fiir 

 away from other habitations. It was here that one of the 

 most amusing incidents oceuiTcd. Some one applied to him 

 to get a young magpie for rearing, and though rendered com- 

 paratively scarce by the continuous slaughter carried on 

 against them, a nest was procured, and the youngest of his 

 own children having cried heartily to be allowed to keep one, 

 his mother's intercessions with the father, " tluat the child 

 would soon be tired of it, and then it could be done away 

 with," induced, at length, a reluctant compliance from the 

 father, who "couldn't think what they wanted with such 

 varmint." The young bird, however, grew rapidly and pros- 

 pered, and quickly became quite a "pet" among the younger 

 children, though "the eldest son seemed to have imbiheil all 

 the strange prejudices of his father against keeping .anything 

 that did not " get money." It had fnll liljerly to come into 

 the cottage whenever it jileased so to do, and if not there, 

 could always be found either in the lane or on the housetop. 

 It was exceedingly familiar, and talked, though but little. 



I myself always believed it to be a female bird, but as the 

 family who kc])t it were of a directly op])Osite oiiinion, in 

 deference to those who were with it daily, I will speak of it 

 as a cock bird. Its vocabulary consisted of " Polly — Come — 

 Marg'ret — Don't you bite— Jiieob — " .and " Where are you ?" 

 He washed himself almost daily in the brook, was in 

 splendid feather, and generally made the most intimate 

 acquaintance with everything connected with the place. 

 Even it and the ]>ointcrs were capital friends, though he 

 furiously flew round any strange dog so long as it remained, 

 ever after the time a spaniel, in trying to catch him, once 

 pulled bis tail out ; for lioneeforw.ard no care could reconcile 

 hiuv to such new comer. 



He passed a good deal of his time with the younger children 

 in the coiinge, or in fine weather w'ould mount the roof, 



chattering wildly, or at times reiterating the few words he had 

 now acquired. At dusk, for a long time, he always roosted 

 in his allotted corner. lie fed precisely as did the children, 

 for they g.ive him jinrtions of all their meals, and iqi to the 

 commencement of the following year was always closely within 

 call. At length, be was absent at sluat intervals, particularly 

 in the early iiart of the day, and it was discovered he hail 

 formed an acquaintance in a small plantation about two liehls 

 distance, and even began to stay out at night also. This 

 circumstance seemed to raise the ire of the gamekeeper, who 

 threatened " to shoot him if he saw him there again." 

 Having now become the "pet" of both the children ami their 

 nnjlhcr, lliey strove all they could to prevent these tendencies; 

 and from being constantly driven hack, at length both be and 

 a wild ben magpie constructed a nest on a high tree at the 

 bottom of the garden. These birds sat and produced several 

 young ones, and this strange and unnatural union of wild 

 with tame birds proved in the result most whimsical. The 

 cock magpie so far as ho had learned, absolutely " talked" 

 to his mate in an evidently unknown tongue. When the 

 young brood wanted food, his daring and impudence increased 

 intensely. This bird took all the food ho sujiplied to them 

 from the gilts of the household, whilst the hen as invariably 

 sought sustenance lor the nestlings in the fields. This plan 

 of getting food continued throughout. " M.ag'6".,talkativcness, 

 that now seemed at its height when eonneeted with his present 

 occupation, was to strangers almost supernatural, jiartienlarly 

 when they were perfectly unacquainted with the eireunistanccs 

 just described. If thrown a piece of meat (for he would not 

 now feed from the hand), he would fly up with it to his little 

 family, screaming wild notes interspersed, however, with words 

 as quickly uttered as though calling over a muster-roll. He 

 ^vould roiieat, " Come, .lack, Jacob, Polly, M.arg'ret," .and 

 occasionally, " Don't you bite," but seemed to have entirely 

 forgotten his old saying of" Where .are you ?" 



His rapacity (caused, no doubt, by the daily increasing 

 wants of his young ones) led to his destruction, from the 

 reckless determination he evinced to obtain every edible 

 within reach. The eldest son, a lad of about fifteen years, 

 had cither been engaged in net-fishing, or was about to go 

 out for th.at puri)ose, and unluckily his dinner had been put 

 on a plate (uncovered) on the talile. The boy had left the 

 room for a short time, and on entering again at the back- 

 door was unfortunately just in time to see poor "Jack" fly 

 out at the front with a selected morsel, the greater bulk of his 

 meal being pulled about the table in sad disorder. Maddened 

 by the sight of his ilinner-plato, he reached a loaded gun from 

 tlie house- wall, and before his mother could prevent him he 

 shot the poor bird in bis nest, bringing all in one confused 

 hea|i to the ground. I am told tliat the lad, ifith blubbering 

 tears, immediately repented, could cat no ilinncr, and that he 

 would have given anything he possessed to undo what his pas- 

 sion had suggested. This lioy's two little relatives, after many 

 hitter tears, made quite a funeral of their " pet," and buried 

 him at the foot of the tree from which he fell. Even the 

 father himself, on returning, professed great grief at "his 

 being killed in that way;" a doubt of sincerity, however, 

 arose from the circumstance that only the next day he sho 

 the old hen magpie, and secreted it from the prying eyes of 

 those by whom this interesting family had been so closely 

 observed. Edwakd Hewitt. 



Spa/k Broohj Binniinjham. 



A CORNER FOR THE CHILDREN. 



Introduction. 



tlie side of how many a Christmas 

 fire is a corner left for the children '> 

 Why, the fire-side at Christm.as-tide 

 would be sadly incomplete without 

 the dear children. Old F.ather Christ- 

 mas — kindly, jolly old fellow .as he is — 

 gives (there e.in't bo a doubt about 

 it) a nod and a smile to the little 

 ones. Nay, I have heani s.ay that he 

 takes them on his knee and trots them 

 ^ -, ..... up .and down, till their young blood 



laughs with warmth, even in their very little toes. 



