214 SPRING. 



and beautiful of our native birds ; and though the 

 noise that it makes be anything but song, it is so restless 

 and playful, that there is hardly an animal that arrests 

 the attention more early in life. Nesting in the tall 

 hedge, or in the thick tree near the cottage, it acts as a 

 watchman, and though it has no great objection to 

 make prize of a chicken or a duckling itself, its chat- 

 tering keeps other spoilers at a distance. It is also so 

 exceedingly wary that it seldom ventures to attack 

 chickens, unless they are in a very retired or lonely 

 place. It is a very general and very abundant feeder, 

 and it frequents only those situations in which it can 

 be abundantly procured. The feathers of the magpie 

 are remarkably close and smooth, so that it can endure 

 any range of climate, and is found in every European 

 latitude. But it is no bird of the wilderness: the copse, 

 the cultivated field, all places where there is plenty of 

 provisions, are the localities selected by the magpie. 

 In the spring we have often found it hopping about in the 

 midst of ewes and lambs, probably wishing to find out 

 if any were so sick or weak that it could murder them, 

 and certainly having the look and air of a thief. When 

 it alights in the farm yard its conduct is the same, and 

 its attention seems equally divided between the getting 

 of something, and the getting of it unobserved. 



It is a very great and successful mouser, and from 

 what we have seen, we could easily build a theory 

 about its being able to distinguish between when its 

 capture is theft, and when it is lawful. There were two 

 that had for many years built their nest in the fork of 

 an ash in a farm garden, and they had absolutely made 

 themselves denizens of the place. They appeared to 



