MAGPIE. Pica caud&ta. 



Dr. Stevelly, of Belfast, who communicated to him the story, from which the following is 

 an extract. 



" He was particularly fond of any shining article, such as spoons and trinkets ; these 

 he frequently stole, and we came upon his treasure-house in a remarkable way. There 

 was an old gentleman, a great friend of my father's, who resided with us almost con- 

 tinually. He was of a peculiarly studious disposition, but from a deformity in his person 

 used generally to read standing, with his arms and breast resting on the back of a chair, and 

 the book placed on a table before him. After having read for a while, it was his habit to 

 take off his spectacles, lay them beside him. blow his nose, take a pinch of snuff, and after 

 a few moments pondering what he had been reading, resume the spectacles and proceed. 



One very warm day I lay reading at the end of a room in which there was an open 

 glass door leading to the greenhouse ; in this room the old gentleman was most intently 

 pursuing his studies at a little distance from me. My attention was soon arrested by 

 seeing the Magpie perched upon the chair near him, eyeing him most intently, and with a 

 very arch expression, and at length, in an instant, he had with a most active hop reached 



