210 TWO VARIETIES OF THE MAGPIE. 



that I received the information of the two varie- 

 ties of magpies ; and from the specimens he has 

 shewn me, there seems to be little doubt of the 

 fact. The smaller pie of the two invariably builds 

 in bushes. Its weight is six ounces; the length 

 from one tip of the wing to the other is nineteen 

 inches ; and it is sixteen inches from the end of 

 the beak to that of the tail. It may be called the 

 bush-magpie. The tree-magpie is very conside- 

 rably larger, weighing very nearly nine ounces, 

 and its plumage is more brilliant than that of the 

 bush-magpie. It is altogether a powerful bird, 

 and when compared with the other variety, the 

 difference is very evident. 



Since writing the above, I have ascertained the 

 dimensions of a tree-magpie. Its weight is nine 

 ounces, its breadth twenty-four inches, and its 

 length eighteen inches ; thus shewing a very con- 

 siderable difference both in the weight and dimen- 

 sions between it and the bush-magpie. The tail, 

 however, of the latter seems longer in proportion 

 than that of the other. 



Much has been said respecting the two passages 

 prepared by a magpie in the construction of the 

 nest. I perfectly recollect, when a school-boy, in 

 Leicestershire, in which county the hedges are of 

 a considerable height, and in which numerous 

 magpies' nests were to be found, observing the 

 escape of the bird from the opposite side of the 



