236 THE MAGPIE. 



ever ; but if you remove the young to a place to 

 which the parent bird can have access, she will 

 regularly bring them a supply of food. 



When there is an addle egg, it is allowed to 

 remain in the nest during the entire process of 

 rearing the young. Birds which make their nests 

 in walls or in the holes of trees (the starling to 

 wit), bring out the addle egg, which has remained 

 from the last year's incubation, and drop it on the 

 ground, when they begin to renew the nest. 



The magpie builds its nest in any tree, no matter 

 of what kind ; and it is very partial even to the 

 lowly thorn bush in the hedgerow. The apple tree 

 in the garden ; the lonely ash in the meadow ; the 

 alder in the swamp ; and the oak in the heart of 

 the forest, far from the abode of man ; all have 

 their attractions for the magpie; and in these it 

 will form its nest, which is invariably composed 

 of sticks, and clay or earth, and lined with fibrous 

 roots. When I am informed that magpies line 

 their nest with wool, I suspect that there is either 

 an error in the statement, or that the modern 

 magpie has conformed to the times, and has brought 

 to her nest a kind of furniture wholly unknown to 

 her ancestors. 



The magpie lays from three to nine eggs; but 

 seven seems to be the average number, varying 

 in size, and shape, and colour, as much as those 

 of the carrion crow. 



The female magpie has so near a resemblance 

 to the male, that you can scarcely distinguish the 

 one from the other. This is the case with all 



