30 TIIH A.MI-:RICA.\ MACPll. 



Osprev's nest, and hail reasmi to ln-lieve tliat tin- tliritt\ pies made elVicieiit. 

 if unwelconic. janitors. 



Vounjj Mag|)ies are nnsijjluly wiien liatclied, — "worse than naked. " and 

 repulsive to a degree equaled only by yoinig Cormorants. Hideous as they 

 unciuestionahly are, the devoted jxirents deelare them angels, and are ready 

 to hack their opinions with most raucous vociferations. With tiie jxjssihie 

 exception of Herons, who are plehes anyhow, Magiiics are the most abusive 

 and profane of binls. When a nest of young birds is threatened, they not 

 only e.\i)ress such reasonable an.xiety as any parent niight feel, but they 

 denounce, upbraid, anathematize, and vilify the intruder, and decry his lineage 

 from .\dam down. They show the ingenuity of ( )rientals in inventing o|)|)ro- 

 brious epithets, and when these run dry, they fall to tearing at the leaves, the 

 twigs, the branches, or even light on the ground and rip u]) the soil with 

 their l)caks, in the mad extremity of their rage. 



.\ pair with whom I experimented near Wallula rather fell into the humor 

 of the thing. The Magjiie is ever a wag, and these must have known that 

 repeated visits could mean no harm. Nevertheless, as often a.s I rattled the 

 nest from my favorite ])erch on the willow tree, the old pies ojjened fresh vials 

 of wrath and emptied their contents upon my devoted head. When mere 

 utterance became inadetpiate, the male bird fell to hewing at the end of a 

 broken branch in most elocpient indignation. He wore this down four inches 

 in the course of my three visits. Once, when my attention was diverted, he 

 took a sly crack at my outstretched fingers, which were h.xstily witlulrawii; 

 and, l)elieve me. we Intth laughed. 



The I>lack-billed Mag])ie winters practically thruout its breeding r.inge, 

 but it also indulges in irregular migratory movements, which in Washington 

 take the form of excursions to the coast. While never common on Puget 

 Sound, they are not unlikely to (xrcur anywhere here in the fall of the year, 

 and are almost certain to be found somewhere about the southern prairies. 

 They return early in spring by way of the major passes, and are not again 

 seen within the heavily timbered areas during the breeding .sea.son. Mr. IX 

 E. Brown, then of C.lacier. on the north fork of the Xooksack River, records 

 inider date of March 4. 1905. the ap|)earance of several bands of Magi)ics 

 passing eastward at a considerable height. |K'rhaps something l»etween three 

 and five thousand feet. He says they were imrccognizable until glasses were 

 trained on them, and he thinks he must have seen at least fifty birds, with 

 chances for many more to have passed imobscr\efl. 



East or west the Magjiie l»ecomes a jiensioner f)f the slaughter house in 

 winter, and his fondness for meat has often proved his undoing in the cattle 

 country. .\s a scavenger his services are not inconsiderable. The only 

 trouble is, as has l^een said, that he sometimes kills liis own meat. 



X'nlumes could be written of the Magi)ie ;is ;i ])et. He is a brainv cha]) 



