THE MAGPIE. 319 



conceived more charming. No other known bird in the creation 

 possesses such a rich exhibition of colouring in the bastard wing and 

 greater coverts. It belongs exclusively to this one species of bird : 

 it is the indubitable and never-failing mark of the jay of Europe a 

 bird which will ever have a friend in me, notwithstanding its ac- 

 knowledged depredations in gardens and in orchards. Its pilferings 

 are of short duration : they are too trivial to cause uneasiness, and 

 of far too light a nature to demand the forfeiture of life. 



THE MAGPIE. 



THIS beautiful frequenter of our woods and plains was notorious, 

 two thousand years ago, for pertness of character and volubility of 

 tongue. Ovid, who knew more of birds than any man of his time, 

 gives us an account of a family of young ladies in Macedonia, who 

 were all changed into magpies; and he expressly tells us } that they 

 retained their inordinate fondness for gabble long after they had lost 

 the lovely form of woman. 



" Nunc quoque in alitibus, facundia prisca remansit, 

 Rauca garrulitas, studiumque immane loquendi." 



" And still their tongues went on, though changed to birds, 

 In endless clack, and vast desire of words." 



If similar transformations were to take place now-a-days, I suspect 

 that many a father here in England would have to look for his lost 

 daughter, chattering amongst the lofty branches of the trees in his 

 park. 



I protect the magpie with greater care than, perhaps, any other 

 bird, on account of its having nobody to stand up for it. Both rich 

 and poor seem to entertain so great an antipathy to this gay and 

 lively bird in its wild state, that I often wonder how the breed has 

 managed to escape utter extirpation in this populous district. The 

 country gentlemen all agree in signing the death-warrant of this 

 friendless bird, because it is known to suck eggs, and to strangle 



