70 CORVIDjE. 



nor the loquacity of the magpie, but pursues a regularity of 

 conduct essentially its own. Cool when occasion requires, 

 confident at all times, and impressed with an equal idea of its 

 own worth,' and of turning everything to advantage, it gets 

 on well in the world. Doubtless owing to its looking so high, 

 as, to-day it builds in the church steeple, and to-morrow in 

 the chimney of the castle ; and again, as if u ennuyed" of city 

 life, affecting a taste for the antiquities of the country, and 

 retiring to the top of some of our round towers to nidify, as, 

 out of six which we had the pleasure of visiting, four were, 

 tenanted by small colonies of jackdaws. 



Few birds assimilate so well as this species with the ruins 

 of those castles and churches which appear before us on every 

 side, studding the island to point out where the footsteps of 

 the soldier and the churchman had been imprinted. These are 

 the strongholds of the jackdaw, as, perched upon some gable 

 or watch-tower, it appears, with its greyish-black plumage 

 looking as if it had been at one time black, but since changed 

 to typify more perfectly the ruin of which it alone is the pos- 

 sessor. Under the battlements of the ruined castle of Dun- 

 moe, standing over the Boyne, we have counted as many as 

 ten nests occurring in a small space, the parent birds, flying 

 off upon our approach, and again returning when we left, 

 appeared the only garrison with which time seemed careless 

 of disputing. 



The jackdaw breeds also in the clefts andfissures of rocks, and 

 in considerable numbers at Bray Head, Howth, and Lambay, 

 at the eastern side of which island we have observed a few 

 pairs appropriating as breeding sites the rabbit holes which 

 abound in that locality. 



Indigenous. 



GENUS XXXL PICA (PIES). 



SPECIES 67 THE MAGPIE. 



Pica caudata. Brisson. 



Pie ordinaire. Degl. 



WE might say of the magpie that nature has only bestowed 

 so much loquacity, in order to make amends for the tacitur- 

 nity and gravity that distinguish so many members of its fa- 

 mily. Of a graceful form and beautiful plumage, it is untiring 

 in the display of its attractions, and as it is common in the 

 most populous and cultivated districts, it is familiarly known 

 and universally admired. 



