OF VICTORIA. 



BLACK-BACKED MAGPIE 



(Piping Crow- Shrike), 



Oymiiorhiiia tibiceii, Lath. 



Jim-nd-rt-nci ti-hl'-sen. 

 Gumnos, naked ; rhinus, nostril ; tibia, flute ; canere, to chant. 



Gymnorhina tibicen, Gould, "Birds of Australia," fol., vol. ii., 



pi. 46. 



Geographical Distribution. — Areas 3, 6, 7. 



Key to the Species. — Black band across white back; throat and 

 breast black ; bill pointed and slightly hooked ; nostrils bare 

 of feathers, and placed as longitudinal slits about the middle 

 of the bill. 



During certain times, as when the seed grain is in the 

 ground, the " 'pies " are not in favour with every cereal 

 grower. That it destroys the prospect of a crop at such 

 time is not real to me, although the evidence of a stomach 

 full of grain certainly weighs against its good name. Soft- 

 bodied injurious vermin are very much reduced in number 

 at the same time. 



For eleven months of the year the bird is indispensable 

 to the grower, doing what other birds never do, and even- 

 tually adding its quota to the handsome results the 

 quality of the ground, with a minimum of pests, has given. 

 But for the magpies the cleaning of our grounds would 

 periodically cost us heavy sums, and like the " whin," 

 when let alone for years, it would rather shock us when 

 the evil day could no longer be staved off. 



Something of this handsome bird might be said with 

 advantage in a homely way. It appears that in captivity 

 magpies show an aversion to anyone who has annoyed 

 them, as well as to anyone who looks like the person who 



