RlllDS. 163 



are the only marks by which I must be contented to distinguisli 

 this numerous fantastic tribe, that add to the beauty, though not 

 to the harmony, of our landscapes. In fact, their chattering 

 every where disturbs the melody of the lesser warblers ; and 

 their noisy courtship not a little damps the song of the linnet 

 and the nightingale. 



However, we have very few of this kind in our woods com- 

 pared to those in the neighbourhood of the line. There they 

 not only paint the scene with the beauty and the variety of their 

 plumage, but stun the ear with their vociferation. In those 

 luxurious forests, the singing-birds are scarcely ever heard, but a 

 hundred varieties of the pie, the jay, the roller, the chatterer, 

 and the toucan, are continually in motion, and with their illusive 

 mockeries disturb or divert the spectator, as he happens to be 

 disposed. 



The Magpie is the chief of this kind with us, and is too well 

 known to need a description. Indeed, were its other accom- 

 plishments equal to its beauty, few birds could be put in compe- 

 tition. Its black, its white, its green, and purple, with the rich 

 and gilded combination of the glosses on its tail, are as fine as 

 any that adorn the most beautiful of the feathered tribe. But 

 it has too many of the qualities of a beau to depreciate these na- 

 tural perfections : vain, restless, loud, and quarrelsome, it is an 

 unwelcome intruder every where ; and never misses an oppor- 

 tunity, when it finds one, of doing mischief. 



The magpie bears a great resemblance to the butcher-bird 

 in its bill, which has a sharp process near the end of the upper 

 chap, as well as in the shortness of its wings, and the form of the 

 tail ; each feather shortening from the two middlemost. But 

 it agrees still more in its food, living not only upon worms and 

 insects, but also upon small birds when they can be seized. A 

 wounded lark, or a young chicken separated from the hen, are 

 sure plunder ; and the magpie will even sometimes set upon 

 and strike a blackbird. 



The same insolence prompts it to tease the largest animals, 

 when its insults can be offered with security. They often are 

 seen perched upon the back of an ox or a sheep, pecking up the 

 insects to be found there, chattering, and tormenting the poor ani- 

 mal at the same time, and stretching out their necks for combat, 

 if the beast turns its head backward to reprehend him. They 



