MAGPIE. 121 



them breeding under the eaves, their nest supported by the 

 spout. In some trees close to houses their nests were 

 several feet in depth, the accumulation of years of undis- 

 turbed and quiet possession. 



" The inhabitants of Norway pleased us very much by 

 the kind feeling which they seemed to entertain towards 

 them, as well as to most species of birds, often expressing 

 a hope that we would not shoot many. Holes are cut in 

 many of their buildings for the admission of some, and 

 pieces of wood are nailed up against them to support the 

 nests of others. At Christmas, that the birds may share 

 their festivities and enjoyments, they place a sheaf of corn 

 at the end of their houses." 



Fynes Moryson, who wrote a short account of Iceland 

 about 1602, states, " We have here no chattering Pie ;" 

 but Sir William Hooker, in his tour in 1809, remarks that 

 a tradition in Iceland says, the Magpie was imported into 

 that country by the English out of spite. 



Our Magpie is a native of the United States and North 

 America from Louisiana* to the Fur-countries,-]- it exists 

 in the Rocky Mountains J also, and has been found in that 

 direction as far as Kamtschatka. 



To return to the central portions of Europe : the Magpie 

 is there common. Southward, it is found in Portugal, 

 Spain, Provence, Italy, Sicily, Malta, the Morea, Smyrna, 

 Aleppo, in the country between the Black and the Caspian 

 Seas, and in the southern part of Russia and Siberia. East- 

 ward from thence it has been found by Mr. Blyth in India ; 

 it exists in China and in Japan. In the northern hemi- 

 sphere of the globe, therefore, the longitudinal range of the 

 Magpie is very extensive. 



The beak is black ; the irides hazel ; the head, neck, 

 back, and upper tail-coverts, jet black ; rump greyish 

 * Audubon. f Richardson. t Nuttall. 



