magpie: 133 



It is highly probable that those vast plains or prairies, abounding 

 with game and cattle, frequently killed for the mere hides, tallow, or 

 even marrow-bones, may be one great inducement for the residency of 

 these birds, so fond of flesh and carrion. Even the rigorous severity of 

 winter in the high regions along the head waters of Rio du Nord, the 

 Arkansas and Red river, seems insufficient to force them from those 

 favorite haunts ; though it appears to increase their natural voracity to 

 a very uncommon degree. Pike relates, that, in the month of Decem- 

 ber, in the neighborhood of the North Mountain, N. lat. 41°, W. lone. 

 34°, Reaumur's thermometer standing at 17° below 0, these birds were 

 seen in great numbers. " Our horses," says he, " were obliged to scrape 

 the snow away to obtain their miserable pittance ; and to increase their 

 misfortunes, the poor animals were attacked by the Magpies, who, at- 

 tracted by the scent of their sore backs, alighted on them, and in defi- 

 ance of their wincing and kicking, picked many places quite raw. The 

 difficulty of procuring food rendering those birds so bold as to light on 

 our men's arms, and eat moat out of their hands."* 



The Magpie is eighteen inches in length ; the head, neck, upper part 

 of the breast and back, are a deep velvety black ; primaries brownish 

 black, streaked along their inner vanes with white ; secondaries rich 

 purplish blue ; greater coverts green blue ; scapulars, lower part of the 

 breast and belly, white ; thighs and vent black ; tail long, the two exte- 

 rior feathers scarcely half the length of the longest, the others increas- 

 ing to the two middle ones, which taper towards their extremities. The 

 color of this part of the plumage is very splendid, being glossy green, 

 dashed with blue and bright purple ; this last color bounds the green ; 

 nostrils covered with a thick tuft of recumbent hairs, as are also the ■ 

 sides of the mouth ; bill, legs and feet, glossy black. The female dif- 

 fers only in the less brilliancy of her plumage. 



* Pike's Journal, p. 170. 



