60 THE MAGPIE 



eggs, which In due time are succeeded by as many young ogres, 

 who are to be reared to birds by an unstinted supply of the most 

 generous diet. Even before their appearance the old birds have 

 committed no small havoc in the neighbourhood ; now, however, 

 that four times as many mouths have to be filled, the hunting ground 

 must either be more closely searched or greatly extended. Any 

 one who has had an opportunity of watching the habits of a tame 

 Magpie, must have observed its extreme inquisitiveness and skill 

 in discovering what was intended to be concealed, joined, moreover, 

 to an unscrupulous habit of purloining everything that takes its 

 roving fancy. Even when surrounded by plenty and pampered 

 with delicacies it prefers a stolen morsel to what is legally its own. 

 Little wonder then that when it has to hunt on its own account for 

 the necessaries of life, and is stimulated besides by the cravings 

 of its hungry brood, it has gained an unenviable notoriety as a 

 prowling bandit. In the harrying of birds' nests no schoolboy 

 can compete with it ; Partridges and Pheasants are watched to 

 their retreat and plundered mercilessly of their eggs and young ; 

 the smaller birds are treated in like manner : hares and rabbits, 

 if they suffer themselves to be surprised, have their eyes picked 

 out and are torn to pieces ; rats, mice, and frogs are a lawful prey ; 

 carrion, offal of all kinds, snails, worms, grubs, and caterpillars, 

 each in turn pleasantly vary the diet ; and, when in season, grain 

 and fruit are attacked with as much audacity as is consistent with 

 safety ; and might, whenever available, give a right to stray 

 chickens and ducklings. The young birds, nurtured in an impreg- 

 nable stronghold, and familiarized from their earliest days with 

 plunder, having no song to learn save the note of caution and alarm 

 when danger is near, soon become adepts in the arts of their parents, 

 and, before their first moult, are a set of inquisitive, chattering 

 marauders, wise enough to keep near the haunts of men because 

 food is there most abundant, cautious never to come within reach 

 of the fowling-piece, and cunning enough to carry off the call-bird 

 from the net without falling themselves into the snare. Even 

 in captivity, with all their drollery, they are unamiable. 



Magpies, though generally distributed, are far more numerous 

 in some districts than others. In Cornwall they are very abund- 

 ant ; hence I have heard them called Cornish Pheasants. In 

 Ireland they are now very common. It is stated that they are 

 in France more abundant than in any other country of Europe, 

 where they principally build their nests in poplar-trees, having 

 discovered, it is said, ' that the brittle nature of the boughs of this 

 tree is an additional protection against climbers ! ' 'In Norway ', 

 says a writer in the Zoologist } ' this bird, usually so shy in this 

 country, and so difficult to approach within gunshot, seems to have 

 entirely changed its nature : it is there the most domestic and 



* Vol. viii. p. 3085. 



