I 3 6 SMALL DEER OUR RODENTS 
There were only a few thorn trees growing there* 
with now and again a clump or two of furze, some 
thin ash trees, and low tangle. As I find it a good 
rule never to get over a stile before making sure 
what is on the other side, I looked over and saw 
two magpies at work, before their keen eyes had dis- 
covered me. They ranged that hill from top to 
bottom, one flying over and the other keeping watery 
alternating in these duties. The thorns and furze 
clumps were minutely inspected ; with their nimble 
movements it did not take long to range the hillside. 
A magpie will kill a half-grown rat if he has the 
chance, a creature that would do infinitely more 
mischief than himself. I have known a rat or rats 
take a dozen eggs from a wild duck's nest and bury 
them in the soft, peaty bottom of a moorland runnel, 
close to the nest. I traced the whole proceeding, and 
dug the eggs out with my fingers. They were 
deposited at distances ranging from a foot up to 
eighteen inches apart. The work had been done in 
the most skilful manner, for the down that had covered 
the eggs so beautifully in the nest remained undis- 
turbed. There was a faint trace where the eggs had 
been pushed forward by the creature's breast up to the 
edge of the runnel, and there were the prints of feet 
in the soft peaty soil. The arrangement of the eggs 
