58 THE CROW FAMILY 



that the magpie may continue to occupy the same nest, repairing it 

 year after year, or reconstructing it, if very much damaged by the 

 winter storms. But its nesting habits do not appear fixed, or, if they 

 be so, are guided by circumstances of which we are yet ignorant. Mr. 

 Ussher, writing of the magpie in Ireland, states that it builds a new 

 nest each year, either in the same tree or in another, and this seems 

 to be its usual habit elsewhere. In one case a new nest, containing 

 eggs, was found placed on top of two old ones, the latter being 

 occupied by a pair of starlings and three pair of sparrows. 1 



Another habit of the species, which is not well understood, is that 

 of commencing more than one nest at a time. This has been ascribed 

 to cunning, the bird thus hoping to deceive its enemies as to position 

 of the real nest. The practice may, however, be due, as in the case 

 of other species, to the choice of an unsuitable site, or to desertion 

 owing to discovery. 



Neither jays nor magpies are backward in defence of their young, 

 but here again, no doubt, as in the case of the raven, the boldness 

 displayed will vary from bird to bird. A pair of jays have been known 

 to show their wrath at an intruder who was examining their young 

 by " chattering and by menacing him, now cawing like a rook, then 

 mewing like a cat, and in their extreme agitation actually plucking 

 off leaves, and biting off pieces of dead twigs from neighbouring trees." 

 A magpie has been observed, in captivity, to express its anger in 

 somewhat similar way; it would utter loud barks, "and would jump 

 on the grass, gather a mouthful of daisies and stones, and commence 

 burying them amid continuous notes of displeasure." 



On quitting the nest the parents and young of both species remain 

 together for some weeks. The extent to which they are subsequently 

 gregarious is difficult to ascertain, owing to the paucity and still more 

 to the incompleteness of the evidence. It has been said that both 

 young jays and magpies, when able to shift for themselves, quit 



1 R. J. Ussher and R. Warren, Birds of Ireland, 1900, pp. 89-90 ; F. C. R. Jourdain (in litt.). 



2 W. S. Durban and M. A. Matthew, Birds of Devonshire, 1895, p. 87 (jay) ; Field, 1863, xxii. 

 322 (C. R. Bree on Magpies). Cf. above, p. 15, the account of the raven tearing off twigs, etc. 



