Magpies 779 



to terrorize small birds by imitating the cry of a Hawk. Ordinarily it is extremely 

 shy, but if not molested it becomes quite tame, though always alert for possible 

 trouble. It is very voracious, living upon carrion, insects of various kinds, 

 berries, fruits, offal from slaughterhouses and refuse generally, and is very 

 destructive to the eggs and young of other birds. It is reputed to alight on the 

 backs of domestic animals and by pecking at chance sores or abrasions to cause 

 sometimes the death of the animal, on which account it is often exterminated 

 by ranchmen. It usually seeks a more or less retired situation during the breeding 

 season, and constructs a large and quite elaborate domed nest, ordinarily at no 

 great height from the ground. It is placed in the fork of a small bushy tree and is 

 composed externally of large sticks firmly wedged together, "upon this a layer of 

 smaller twigs, and then a layer of fine clay one half or three quarters of an inch in 

 thickness, which, being applied soft and well worked in, becomes very hard and 

 binds the whole structure together. On this again is a soft lining of twigs, hair, 

 feathers, and any proper material they can find. Over the whole, rising from 

 the walls of the nest, is a dome of twigs and sticks, very ingeniously and securely 

 woven together. There are two openings, opposite each other, evidently to make 

 room for the long tail of the bird." The six to nine eggs are generally pale gray, 

 heavily blotched with different shades of brown. The Magpie is a very intel- 

 ligent bird, making an interesting but sometimes troublesome pet, and can be 

 taught to articulate words and short sentences. One of the most accomplished 

 of these birds I saw some years ago in southwestern Colorado. This bird was 

 the property of a station agent of a railway line and occupied a large cage on 

 the station platform, becoming especially talkative at train time. The bird was 

 appropriately named "Maggie." The exhibition would start usually in the 

 following order, each word being uttered with astonishing distinctness and with 

 perfect human inflection: " Pretty Maggie, pretty Maggie ; Maggie's all right." 

 Then would come the information, "Martin's a crank, Martin's a crank," 

 followed by the emphatic statement, "Martin's drunk." After this would often 

 come the heartiest, jolliest laugh one could imagine, and said to be in exact 

 imitation of that of the mistress of the house. The late Professor W. C. Knight, 

 in his " Birds of Wyoming," has given accounts of several talking Magpies 

 that came under his observation. The Yellow-billed Magpie (P. nuttalli], 

 which has the bill and bare orbital spaces bright yellow instead of black, is found 

 only in middle California, where it is resident; its habits and nidification are 

 the same as those of the commoner species, as in general are those of the Old 

 World representatives. 



Magpie-Jays. In some respects quite closely related to the Magpies, but 

 differing in having the nostrils wholly exposed, the orbits entirely instead of 

 but partially feathered, and a conspicuous crest, are the so-called Magpie-Jays 

 (Calocitta) of western Mexico and thence to Costa Rica. Of the two species 

 comprising the genus, the best-known and the one made the subject of our 

 colored illustration is Collie's Magpie-Jay (C. colliei), or the Urraca Jay, as it is 

 commonly called in western Mexico. The coloration is so well shown in the plate 

 that it is only necessary to say in way of description that the total length of the bird 



