42 IN BIRD-LAND 



tion by shaking her wings and tail, bending her 

 head low and cooing softly coo-co-coo, coo-coo, coo- 

 coo-coo ; then her mate answers, beginning in a 

 slightly higher pitch, and continuing bowing to 

 her ; and so this charmingly suggestive little love 

 scene goes on until the hen leaves the nest, and 

 her mate takes his place on the eggs in her 

 absence. 



The Magpie 'used to be common in our woods 

 and orchards, but it is now, alas ! almost extinct in 

 this district. One pair used to nest regularly in a 

 wood near my own home, and one nest through 

 being repaired, and consequently enlarged in each 

 successive spring, grew to quite a formidable size ; 

 but this the last remaining specimen was at last 

 destroyed, the tree being cut down by the owner 

 of the wood, when the birds were afterwards shot. 



I well remember, when quite a little child, going 

 to the window each morning to watch these hand- 

 some birds as they then fed in the little-frequented 

 roadway outside, and it was then my ambition to 

 catch one alive. Being only some five years of 

 age, however, at that time, the birds were much 

 more wary than I, and consequently were in no 

 danger of being caught. 



Most of the keepers on the several estates in the 

 northern London suburbs seem to keep up con- 



