136 BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 



owl runs a risk of becoming extinct before it is properly 

 appreciated. 



"An impudent presuming Pie, 

 Malicious, ignorant, and sly." 



Cunningham. 



" So have I seen, in black and ivliitc 

 A prating tiling, a Magpie /light 

 Majestically stalk; 

 A stately, ivorthless animal 

 That plies the tongue and ivags the tail, 

 All flutter, pride and talk:' 



Pope. 



Another handsome bird on "the tables of proscription," 

 is the magpie ; but it deserves all the persecution it receives, 

 for though it certainly eats a certain number of snails and 

 insects, it is far more partial to eggs and young birds ; and 

 its audacity is so extraordinary, that only its death puts an 

 end to its marauding, while its cunning is such that shooting 

 a magpie is a matter of the greatest difficulty. The 

 numbers that are destroyed annually must be very large ; 

 but the magpie is a prolific bird, and withal so astute in its 

 nest-building that it is still in the greater part of the country 

 a common object. Its nest, indeed, is a fortress, proof against 

 all natural enemies, and offering even considerable chances of 



