MA GPIEJA CKDA W. 53 



it incessantly flirts its tail and erects and depresses its crest. 

 Flight not very rapid and direct. 



Food. Worms, spiders, insects, eggs, young birds, &c. In 

 winter, berries, &c. Practically omnivorous. 



Nest. May. One brood. 



Site. At the top of some thick bush, in fork of sapling or 

 small tree. 



Materials. Sticks, twigs, and roots, lined with dry grass, 

 rootlets, and a little hair. Cup well shaped. 



Eggs. Four to seven. Pale green or greenish blue, thickly 

 mottled with olive-brown. Usually a black, irregular line at 

 the large end. 



MAGPIE (Pica rustica}. 



Resident. Fairly common, though irregularly distributed in 

 some districts. Not so much a bird of the woods as the Jay. 



Plumage. Head, throat, and back velvety black, showing 

 purple and green reflections. Bump whitish grey. Scapulars 

 and under parts white. Primaries black, glossed with green. 

 Tail black and very long, with greenish cupreous and purple 

 reflections. Bill and legs black. Length 18 in. Female slightly 

 smaller and duller. Young still duller. 



Language. A harsh chattering, rather reminding one of the 

 noise produced by a policeman's rattle, only not so powerful. 



Habits. In disposition active, shy, crafty, alert, and noisy. 

 Always distinct on account of its long tail, frequently flirted, 

 skimming, arrowy flight, and quick beatings of its short wings. 

 On the ground it runs and, at intervals, takes surprisingly 

 long hops. 



Food. Practically omnivorous. Much persecuted in game- 

 preserving districts on account of its fondness for eggs. 



Nest. April. One brood. 



Site. Among the smaller branches at the top of some tall 

 tree ; sometimes in a thick hawthorn hedge. 



Materials. Sticks and turf plastered with mud, lined with 

 mud and fine grass. Cup deep, over which a basket-like dome 

 of thorny sticks is placed. 



Eggs. Six to nine. Pale bluish green, thickly spotted and 

 speckled with olive-brown and blotched with faint ash-grey. 



JACKDAW (Corvus monedula). 



Resident. Abundant in all suitable localities. 

 Haunts. Ruins, church towers, sea cliffs, &c. 

 Observation. Distinguish at once from Crow and Rook by 

 smaller size and grey nape. 



Plumage. Upper parts glossy black, with green and purple 



