THE AMERICAN MAGPIE.  ~—_-29 
This historic pile is in marked contrast to one sighted in a willow on 
the banks of Crab Creek near Odessa. My attention was attracted to the 
spot by a scuffle, which took place between a Magpie and a pair of Kingbirds ; 
and when I started to examine the nest, | was in honest doubt whether it 
might not belong to the Kingbirds. The foundation was of mud, but this 
came near constituting the outside of the nest instead of the inside. ‘The 
action of the wind upon the willows had compressed the mud bow] to a boat- 
shaped receptacle wherein lay five brown beauties, unmistakable Magpies’ 
eggs. There was a copious lining of rootlets, and a light half-cover of 
thorn twigs; but the whole structure was not over a foot in diameter and 
scarcely that in depth. 
Magpies, like Blue Jays, are discreetly quiet in 
nesting time, and 
especially so if 
they have attempt- 
ed to nest in the 
vicinity of a farm- 
house. When 
driven to the hills 
by persecution 
they accept any 
shelter, and will 
= 
tan nest in grease- 
Z 
wood, sage-brush, 
or even on the ground. 
Arbors of clematis (cle- 
matis ligusticifolia) of- 
af, fer occasional conceal- 
ment, but thornapples 
(Crategus colwmbian- 
um, etc.) afford the 
safest retreat. A Mag- 
pie snugly ensconced 
Taken near Spokane. in a thornapple fortress 
Ekasorasalegeg: SS Mare. may well bid defiance 
ei MOUNG MACHIE: to any retributive agen- 
cy short of man. Among several scores of nests ] never saw one in a pine tree 
in the Yakima country, yet these are freely utilized in Chelan, Okanogan, and 
Spokane Counties. Indeed, in these latter localities there is a suspicion of 
dawning preference for the tree-tops and difficult climbs. On the Columbia 
River I once found a family of Magpies occupying the basement of a huge 
