116 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description Intrepidity. 



THE MAGPIE. 



THE magpie is an elegant bird, with a long 

 tail, and short wings; it has a large white spol 

 on the breast, another on each side of the body, 

 and several of the wing-feathers are white, the 

 ether part of its plumage is black, beautifully 

 shaded ; indeed, its black, white, green, and pur- 

 ple, with the rich and gilded combination of tht* 

 glosses on its tail, are as fine as any that adorn 

 the most beautiful of the feathered tribe. But it 

 has so many bad qualities that they 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 near 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 r 

 each feather shortening from the two middle- 

 most. But it agrees still more in its food, sub- 

 listing not only upon worms and insects, but also* 

 pon small birds when they can be seized. A 

 wounded lark, or a young chicken separated from: 

 the hen are sure plunder; and it will even some- 

 times have the assurance to attack a thrush or 

 blackbird; nay, it will even seize the largest ani- 

 mals, when its insults can be offered with secu- 

 rity. As a proof of this almost every peasant 



