246 MAGPIE. 



cuneated ; wings with the fourth quill long- 

 est, the two preceding graduating, the first 

 short, and narrowing for two-thirds of its 

 length. Pica melanoleuca. 

 Europe, America, Asia. 



THE MAGPIE, PICA MELANOLEUCA Corvus 

 pica, Linn. Garrulus picus, Temm. Supp. p. 

 63. Magpie of British authors. Although the 

 principal colours of the Magpie are only two, yet 

 from the manner in which they are contrasted, 

 and from the brilliant reflected tints by which 

 they are varied, it is perhaps one of our most 

 beautiful birds, while its presence in the midst of 

 cultivation, and its active and rather forward 

 manners, render it in many countries a favourite, 

 while in others it is looked upon with a kind of 

 superstition. The natural localities of the Mag- 

 pie seem to be a district partially wooded, 

 where there are no vast tracts of forest, no moun- 

 tainous elevation, but ground, through which 

 it can ramble, and where it can find shelter at 

 night or from the storm, in the natural groves 

 with which it is interspersed. In Britain, it is 

 now nearly a constant attendant on cultivation, 

 and is very generally distributed except in the 



