THE AMERICAN .MA(.l'!fe 



Ix'Unils uf Icfjitimatc iianglitiiicss, ami wc take liim on tlie i>arfntal knee 

 fur well-ilescrvcd correction. lUit tlie sancy cnl])rit manages to steal a rognish 

 glance at us, — a glance which challenges the remembrance of our own 

 boyish pranks, and bids us ask what difference it will make twenty years 

 after; and it is all off with discipline for that occasion. 



The Magi)ie is indis])Utably a wretch, a miscreant, :•. cunning thief, a 

 heartless marauder, a brigand lM)ld — Oh, call him what ymi will! But, 

 withal, he is such a pictures(|ue villain, that as often as you are stirred with 

 righteous indignation and imi)elled tt» punitive slaughter, you fall to womler- 

 ing if your commission as avenger is properly countersigned, and — shirk the 

 task outright. 



The cattle men have it in for him. l>ecause the persecutions of the Magpie 

 sometimes prevent scars made by the branding iron from healing: and cases 

 are known in which young stock has died l)ecause of malignant sores resulting. 

 This is. of course, a grave misdemeanor; but when the use of fences shall ha\e 

 fully displaced the present cust<im of bran<ling. we shall ])robab!y hear no 

 more <»f it. 



Beyond this it is indisputably true that Magpies are professional nest 

 robbers. At time< they organize systematic searching iKirties. and advance 



NKST OF M.VGPIK IN C.RK.XSKW OOD 



