PERCHING BIRDS. 141 



interested in observing its lively habits. It is very fond 

 of mingling with sheep, especially when feeding on 

 turnips, and under cover of a hedge I have frequently 

 stolen up and enjoyed a laugh at them. They search 

 about for insects, now with a long elastic bound snapping 

 a tick from a sheep's fleece ; now looking up in its face 

 with the utmost pertness, as much as to say, " I should 

 like a peck at your eyes ;" and then, with a few vigorous 

 hops, away to another. 



With regard to the haunts of the magpie, it appears 

 most decidedly to prefer the cultivated farm land to the 

 wilder forest, being rarely seen in the latter localities. In 

 woods or plantations I never met with it ; and its nest, 

 as far as I have observed, is almost always placed in 

 hedgerow trees. The ash appears to be more frequently 

 chosen than any other. I have often admired the archi- 

 tectural beauty of the magpie's nest, though why it 

 builds it with a dome it is difficult to say. Certainly 

 the structure is too open to afford any protection from 

 the weather, but at the same time, as the nest is 

 generally placed in isolated trees, the dome may be 

 designed to screen the eggs from a passing plunderer, 

 and for that it is quite sufficient. 



The assertions of some of our older naturalists that 

 the magpie builds her nest with two entrances seems to 

 want verification. I never met with one so contrived. 

 Nevertheless, such a construction is followed by some 

 birds, the pheasant cuckoo of Australia for instance 

 (Centropus phasianus), which I know builds a domed 

 nest with an opening on each side, from which the head 

 and tail of the female project when she is sitting ; it is 

 therefore possible that there may be some truth in the 

 story. 



