i52 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS 



" I can distinctly remember the sorry plight I sometimes presented after climbing 

 to the top of a high hawthorn hedge to discover the contents of a nest." S. A. 

 Davies, (Zoologist 1892, p. 29,) remarks that: "In Norway they nearly always 

 prefer bushes, if procurable. Whilst travelling in 1890, in the Saetersdal, I 

 observed that as noticed by Mr. Saunders in his ' Manual of British Birds,' very 

 often the nests were built under the eaves of the houses. In some cases the 

 peasants had placed large props under the eaves for the nest to rest upon : in 

 others the nest appeared to be built half inside the house, between gaps in the 

 timbers. The Magpie is regarded as a bird of good omen, and it is constantly 

 encouraged as much as possible to nest near the house. In one place I saw, in 

 a low fir-tree close to a house, no less than nine Magpies' nests. I never heard 

 before of Magpies nesting in colonies." Lord Lilford says that in Spain he 

 frequently met with "nests which could be examined without any climbing, and, 

 still more, whose contents were attainable from horseback : " he also, as recorded 

 by Howard Saunders, " found several nests in the papyrus reeds of the Anapo, 

 near Syracuse." 



The nest itself is very bulky and when built openly is always roofed over 

 with a basket-like covering of thorny sticks, between which and the nest proper, 

 which is made of the same materials cemented together with mud, there is only 

 a narrow entrance : the cup of the nest is very deep and neatly lined with rootlets. 



The eggs number from six to eight, rarely nine, and are pale emerald green 

 (or exceptionally fleshy-white) ; a clutch of five in my collection obtained in the 

 village of Bobbing in Kent, in May, 1888, are uniformly flecked all over with 

 short irregular olive markings interspersed with dots of the same colour ; but 

 others have the spotting massed at the larger, or more rarely, at the smaller end, 

 and in some cases there are blotches and streaks of brown among the other markings, 

 and I have seen eggs coloured and marked like those of the Pied Wagtail.* 



The male takes his share in the duties of incubation. 



The food of this bird consists of snails, worms, insects and their larvae, eggs, 

 young birds, mice, carrion ; and later in the year, fruit, beech-mast, and acorns, 

 as well as grain when procurable. Early in August, 1879, Mr. Frohawk saw 

 considerable flocks feeding on the fallows in North Devon. 



The natural note of the Magpie is a harsh chattering ; but, like some of the 

 other Crows he is a good mimic and, as Swaysland observes, "is easily taught to 

 talk." Lord Lilford remarks : " In confinement or, more properly speaking, in 

 semi-captivity, the Magpie is a very amusing bird, but his ceaseless chatter is, to 



* A variety also noted by Seebohni. 



