THE PIE KIND. 189 



its beauty, few birds could be put in competition. 

 Its black, its white, its green and purple, with 

 the rich and gilded combination of the glosses 

 on its tail, are as fine as any that adorn the most 

 beautiful of the feathered tribe. But it has 

 too many of the qualities of a beau to depreciate 

 these natural perfections : vain, restless, loud, and 

 quarrelsome, it is an unwelcome intruder every- 

 where ; and never misses an opportunity, when it 

 finds one, of doing mischief. 



The magpie bears a great resemblance to the 

 butcher-bird in its bill, which has a sharp process 

 near the end of the upper chap, as well as in the 

 shortness of its wings, and the form of the tail, 

 each feather shortening from the two middlemost. 

 But it agrees still more in its food, living not 

 only upon worms and insects, but also upon 

 small birds when they can be seized. A wound- 

 ed lark, or a young chicken separated from the 

 hen, are sure plunder ; and the magpie will even 

 sometimes set upon and strike a blackbird. 



The same insolence prompts it to tease the 

 largest animals when its insults can be offered 

 with security. They often are seen perched 

 upon the back of an ox or a sheep, pecking up 

 the insects to be found there, chattering and tor- 

 menting the poor animal at the same time, and 

 stretching out their necks for combat, if the beast 

 turns its head backward to reprehend them. 

 They seek out also the nests of birds, and, if the 

 parent escapes, the eggs make up for the de- 

 ficiency: the thrush and the blackbird are but 



