140 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



wary manner in which they effected their plunder 

 proving themselves most accomplished thieves. 



They are sociable and friendly amongst themselves, 

 and live in goodwill and peace towards their neighbours. 

 I never saw amongst them any of those violent, ill- 

 natured attacks which the rooks make upon some un- 

 fortunate individual who may not happen to belong to 

 their coterie, but they appear quietly to do as they 

 would be done by. 



They mingle freely with the rooks when feeding, and 

 are as active as they in their search for the larvae of the 

 cockchafer, digging up the turf with great perseverance. 

 Why, then, is not the skin around the base of the bill 

 as bare as the rook's? I have watched them most 

 closely, but I never saw the slightest abrasion of their 

 feathers, which must have been the case if produced by 

 digging. 



In confinement they manifest great familiarity, and 

 are much attached to their owners, sometimes exhibiting 

 a quaint comicality of manners which is very amusing, 

 and greatly delighting in a bit of mischief ; they will sit 

 on the rail of a cottage garden watching the play of the 

 children, and at dinner-time keeping a good look-out 

 for their share. 



The artfulness and thievish propensities of the crow 

 family seem to be concentrated in the Magpie (C. pica), 

 Wary to an extreme, it is ever ready for plunder, and, 

 though often kept in a cage, I know of few common 

 birds with whose general habits in a state of nature we 

 are so little familiar. It is rarely that it permits of a 

 near approach, except under favourable circumstances 

 for concealment, but in our secluded districts I have 

 often enjoyed these opportunities, and have been much 



