THE MAGPIE. 209 



Some to the hedge 



Nestling repair, and to the thicket some; 

 Some to the rude protection of the thorn 

 Commit their feeble offspring. 



THOMSON. 



IT would appear to have escaped the notice of the 

 naturalists, that there are two distinct varieties of 

 Magpies to be found in this country, one of them 

 being considerably smaller than the other. My 

 attention was first called to this fact by an exten- 

 sive dealer in birds at Windsor ; and who appears 

 to know more of their habits, from actual obser- 

 vation, and fondness for them, than any one I 

 have happened to meet with. His success in rear- 

 ing and taming the nightingale, black-cap, and 

 other tender song birds, is extraordinary. The 

 cuckoo thrives under his care from year to year ; 

 and landrails are quite in a state of domestication. 

 His blackbirds, starlings, and thrushes, sing the 

 notes of the nightingale ; and his magpies, jays, 

 and jackdaws, talk and whistle far better than any 

 parrots I have yet heard. Much of his time has 

 been passed in the haunts of warblers, for the 

 purpose of capturing singing-birds, which he tames 

 with wonderful rapidity. It was from this person 



