MAGPIES. 227 



much pain and trouble, get at their young ; the barrier 

 from the outer to the inner edge, being above a foot in 

 breadth. Frogs, mice, worms, or anything living, were 

 plentifully brought to their young. One day, one of the 

 parent-birds attacked a rat, but not being able to kill it, 

 one of the young ones came out of the nest and assisted 

 in its destruction, which was not finally accomplished till 

 the other old one, arriving with a dead mouse, also lent 

 its aid. The female was observed to be the most active 

 and thievish, and withal very ungrateful ; for although 

 the children about the house had often frightened cats 

 and hawks from the spot, yet she one day seized a chicken, 

 .and carried it to the top of the house to eat it, where the 

 hen immediately followed, and having rescued the chicken, 

 brought it safely down in her beak ; and it was remarked 

 that the poor little bird, though it made a great noise 

 while the Magpie was carrying it up, was quite quiet, 

 and seemed to feel no pain, while its mother was carry- 

 ing it down. These Magpies were supposed to have 

 been the very same pair which had built there for several 

 years, never suffering either the young, when grown up, 

 or anything else, to take possession of their bush. The 

 nest they carefully fortified afresh every Spring, with 

 rough, strong, prickly sticks, which they sometimes drew 

 in with their united forces, if unable to effect the object 

 ^lone. To this tameness and familiarity the Magpie will 

 sometimes add a considerable degree of courage, and not 

 satisfied with driving away intruders from its premises, 

 has been known to attack animals much its superior in 

 size. One of them was seen pursuing a full-grown hare, 

 making frequent and furious pounces upon it, from which 

 the animal at last escaped only by making for a thick 

 hedge, at the other side of which it ran off to some dis- 

 tance from the place where it had entered, without being 

 observed by its pursuer. No cause could be assigned 

 for this assault. 



A favourable trait in their character occurred in Essex, 

 where some boys, having taken four young ones from a 



Q 2 



