THE BIRD BOOK 



CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. Family CORVID^E. 



475. MAGPIE. Pica pica hudsonia. 



Range. Western North America from the 

 Great Plains to the Pacific and from Alaska 

 to Arizona and New Mexico. 



These large handsome birds have the entire 

 head, neck and breast velvety black, abruptly 

 defined against the 

 white underparts. 

 The back, wings and 

 tail are greenish or 

 bluish black, and the 

 scapulars, white ; 

 length of bird 20 

 inches. They are well 

 known throughout 

 the west, where their Grayish white 

 bold and thievish habits always excite com- 

 ment. They nest in bushes and trees at low 

 elevations from the ground, making a very 

 large nest of sticks, with an opening on the 

 side, and the interior is made of weeds and 

 mud, lined with fine grasses; these nests often 

 reach a diameter of three feet and are made of 



large sticks. During April or May, they lay from four to eight grayish 

 eggs, plentifully spotted with brown and drab. Size 1.25 x .90. 



Mag-pie 



quite 

 white 



4<76. YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE. Pica nuttalli. 



Range. Middle parts of California, west of the 

 Sierra Nevadas. 



This species is slightly smaller than the last and 

 has a yellowish bill and lores, otherwise being pre- 

 cisely like the more common species. Their habits 

 do not differ from those of the other, the nests are 

 the same and the eggs are indistinguishable. Size 

 1.25 x. 88. 



Grayish white 



A / 



300 



