CORVINE. GARRULUS. 109 



abdomen, black ; of the rest of the breast, and the outer sca- 

 pulars white ; tail very long, graduated, splendent with green 

 and purple, as are the wings, the greater part of the inner 

 web of the outer quills of which is white. Young similar 

 to the old birds, but with the plumage less dense and glossy. 



Male, 18, 24, 7|, 1 T \, 1H, IT** iV Female, 17, 24. 



This beautiful bird occurs in all the cultivated and wooded 

 parts of Britain and Ireland. Its food consists of larvae, 

 worms, insects, mollusca, reptiles, eggs, young birds, small 

 quadrupeds, carrion, sometimes grain and fruits of various 

 kinds. Extremely shy and vigilant when molested, it is 

 much less so in unfrequented places. It walks like the 

 crows, but occasionally leaps in a sidelong direction, emits a 

 chattering cry when alarmed, flies rather heavily, and nestles 

 in trees or bushes, forming a large nest of twigs, covered over 

 or arched, with an aperture on one side. The eggs, from 

 three to six, an inch and five-twelfths long, eleven-twelfths 

 and a half in breadth, pale green, freckled with umber-brown 

 and light purplish-grey, but varying in their tints. Being very 

 destructive to eggs and young birds, it is much persecuted. 

 It is easily tamed, but is troublesome from its superabundant 

 activity, and its propensity to carry off whatever object strikes 

 its fancy. 



Common Magpie. Pyet. Pianet. Mag. Madge. 



Corvus Pica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 157. Corvus Pica, and 

 Garrulus Pica, Temm. Man. d'Ornith, i. 113, iii. 63. Pica 

 melanoleuca. Common Magpie, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 

 562. 



GENUS XXX. GARRULUS. JAY. 



Bill shorter than the head, straight, strong, compressed 

 toward the end, rather pointed ; upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line declinate and slightly arched, the ridge narrow, 

 the sides sloping, the edges direct, sharp, with a notch or 

 sinus close to the tip, which is rather acute and declinate ; 

 lower mandible with the angle of moderate width, the dorsal 

 line ascending and convex, the edges slightly inflected, the 

 tip rather acute ; gape-line nearly straight. Mouth of mo- 

 derate width ; upper mandible concave with five or seven 

 prominent lines ; tongue oblong, sagittate, flat above, horny 

 and thin at the edges, the tip cleft and lacerated ; oesopha- 

 gus rather wide, nearly uniform ; proventriculus bulbiform ; 



