330 THE MAGPIE 



contents, select the most sparkling or most valuable, 

 and hide them in so very safe a place that, if she 

 does ever find them herself again, there is little 

 chance of her owner being able to do so. But 

 give her the run of the stable-yard, of a field, of a 

 garden, and all her faculties will be developed to the 

 utmost. She will alternately pet and plague all 

 the four-footed or feathered inhabitants of the 

 homestead. She will have private hiding-places 

 everywhere, and will " plant" the garden with every 

 conceivable object, animal, vegetable, or mineral. 

 If they, all of them, would only grow, what a varied 

 crop there would be ! The gardener will have some 

 compensation for his losses in the strange objects, 

 the ever fresh treasure- trove, which he will always 

 be turning up ; and you, if you do allow yourself 

 to be too much irritated by the occasional loss of a 

 knife, of a ball of string, of a garden label, of a pair 

 of garden scissors, will, at least, have the consolation 

 of seeing others irritated by like losses, thanks to 

 the same incorrigible rascal. " There is something 

 not altogether displeasing to us in the misfortunes 

 of our friends." You may try to break the magpie 

 of his thieving habit, but you will never succeed. 

 The more he puts you out, the more he enjoys it. 

 He will watch, with his head on one side, every 



