194 OMNI VOILE. 



by the peculiar scent, though that scent may not be percep- 

 tible to man. It is certain that when, from bad food and 

 improper treatment, murrain or any other general disease falls 

 upon cattle, crows and magpies are as certainly attracted 

 toward them as vultures are to a field of the slain, and no 

 doubt by a similar cause. In this matter, again, people 

 might profit by observing and studying the magpie ; and it 

 is an interesting bird to study neat in its form, beautiful in 

 its colours, elegant in its attitudes, and smart and lively, but 

 at the same time shrewd and cautious in its manners. Even 

 the chatter of the magpie, though a note of alarm to the 

 little birds when they have nests, is a social note : in a wild 

 country, you may generally look for a cottage if you hear a 

 magpie. The female magpie is rather smaller than the 

 male, but the markings are similar. There are many pleasing 

 stories of magpies, but we still want a good history of the 

 bird, in combination with the circumstances about it, from 

 the actual observation of one who is well skilled in the plain 

 common-sense philosophy of these circumstances in their 

 connection. It is the same with all familiar birds : we know 

 them and we know them not. 



THE JAY ( Garrulus glandarius). 



The jay, though not so handsome in its form, so familiar, 

 or perhaps so interesting in its manners, as the magpie, is 

 one of the most beautiful of our resident birds. It is distri- 

 buted over most parts of the country where there are groves 

 and coppices, and especially where there are bits of thick and 

 close plantation ; but it does not occur in very great numbers 

 in any one locality. 



A figure, one-sixth of the lineal dimensions, is given at the 

 bottom of the plate opposite, from which a general notion of 

 the form and colour of the bird may be obtained. The 

 feathers on the head are, however, generally looser than it is 



