THE MAGPIE. 193 



eggs in the same way as the rest of the tribe, that is, by 

 thrusting the bill into them, and carrying them off. Boys 

 sometimes play it a trick, by filling the shell of an egg with 

 bird-lime, and leaving it as a bait for Mag. Mag thrusts the 

 bill into it, and it goes up to the very bottom of the gape, 

 and further, so that Mag cannot see, but flies, bumping 

 against the twigs, till she is fortunate enough to hit against 

 one which breaks the shell, and then there is no small labour 

 in clearing the bird-lime from the feathers at the base. 



A thick-branched tree is also a firmly-rooted one ; and so 

 the tree is stable, not because the magpie chooses it, but 

 because stability is a concomitant of that property in the 

 upper part of the tree which suits the magpie. The nest is 

 large, much larger than is necessary for the eggs, because it 

 is walled and roofed, and the magpie must have room for its 

 long tail while it sits, and facility of reaching all the young 

 to give them their food ; and hence the whole extent of it is 

 much greater than that which is lined with grass or other 

 soft matters. The nest is tolerably well concealed, and it is 

 strongly built, and the eggs at such a distance from the door 

 by which the bird enters, that they are safe from all spoilers 

 except man. 



Where these are but few, and no casualty occurs, the pair 

 build for years in the same tree ; but when they are nume- 

 rous, there must be marriage parties in the spring, as well 

 of the young ones, as of those that have been left single by 

 casualty. The meetings are for these purposes : the odd one 

 is of course unpaired ; and the rustic may very likely have 

 brought the terror of it upon fdmself by killing its mate. 



As to the houses, it will, I suspect, be found that magpies 

 sit most frequently upon those that smell the most of "mag- 

 pie's food." With beasts it is much the same. The magpie 

 has many of the habits of the raven and the crow, and the 

 whole race come most about sickly beasts, allured, no doubt, 



VOL. i. o 



