248 MAGPIE. 



sticks, chiefly selected from thorn or other prickly 

 shrubs, it is strongly covered over with an 

 arched roof of the same materials ; two opposite 

 holes are left for access and egress, so small as 

 scarcely to admit the hand, and we have scarcely 

 ever examined one of them without being con- 

 siderably scratched and torn when procuring the 

 eggs. The base of the nest, as mentioned, is 

 firmly built with sticks, but in addition it is 

 thickly daubed with clay, which renders it so 

 strong as on a high tree to resist the effects of 

 ordinary shot ; the inside is commonly lined 

 with fine dried grasses. In this country, the 

 Magpie, though breeding so near to houses, is a 

 watchful and shy bird, arising from its persecution, 

 and frequently attempted destruction on account 

 ; of its depredations upon the game, and the inmates 

 | of the poultry yard ; but in some of the European 

 countries where it is protected, it becomes familiar 

 and devoid of fear. In Norway, Mr Hewitson 

 tells us, " It is on the most familiar terms with 

 the inhabitants, picking close about their doors, 

 and sometimes walking inside their houses. It 

 abounds in the town of Drontheim, making its 

 nest on the churches and warehouses. Few farm 

 houses are without several of them breeding 

 nnder the eaves, their nest supported by the 

 spout." * Mr Laing confirms this : " The Mag- 

 pies hop about the houses in a half tame state, 

 and are never pelted by the children/' f What a 



* Mag. of Zool. and Bot. ii. p. 311. 

 t Laing's Residence in Norway, p. 111. 



