THE PERSECUTED MAGPIE 31 



Magpies will soon be exterminated in many parts 



of the country unless they receive special protection. 



Like sparrow-hawks, the tribe suffers collec- 



The tively for the sins of the individual. The 



Persecuted ,. . . , . , . . , 



Magpie ordinary magpie is no more harmful to the 



interests of game than the ordinary rook. 

 His beauty, certainly, is far more striking. But he 

 has been given a bad name; and magpies are de- 

 stroyed on every possible occasion. The keeper 

 finds the magpie only too easy to destroy, in spite of 

 the bird's wonderful keenness of eye and his wary 

 ways. 



Magpies go year after year to the same huge, 

 domed nest. The birds may be trapped a hundred 

 times more easily than sparrow-hawks ; and they 

 may be shot without any difficulty, so slow, laboured 

 and straight is their flight. An imitation of their 

 call lures them unsuspiciously to their doom. Add 

 that the plumage is showy, and it is clear that the 

 thoughtless keeper finds magpies easy targets. 



They are in demand as cage-birds, and even if a 

 keeper should reprieve a few lingering pairs, he is 

 likely to complain of " they bird fanciers," who '* won't 

 let the birds bide." 



Like all of its tribe, the magpie attacks the eye 

 of its victims, whether alive or dead. His taste is for 

 carrion, and this accounts for the ease with which he 

 may be trapped. Here the magpies differ from the 

 hawks, which are seldom to be caught by a dead bait, 

 unless killed by themselves as when they have been 



