CLARK'S NUTCRACKER— iVttc\/ra(/a Colvmbidiva. 



a large patch of white. The head, neck, and greater part of the body is light fawn, 

 changing to a pearly grey upon the breast and abdomen. The total length of this bird is 

 about thirteen inches. 



Who does not know the Magpie, the pert, the gay, the mischievous ? * AVhat denizen 

 of the country is not familiar with his many exploits in the way of barefaced and 

 audacious theft, his dipping flight, and his ingenuity in bafHing the devices of the fowler 

 and the gunner ? What inhabitant of the town has not seen him coojDed in his wicker 

 dwelling, drdl and begrimed with the daily smoke, but yet pert as ever ; talkative, and a 

 wonderful admirer of his dingy plumage and ragged tail ? 



The Magpie is found in very many parts of the world, and is plentiful throughout 

 England, always keeping to well-wooded districts, as if distrusting its power of flight in 

 the open country ; for the larger hawks are prone to fly at the Magpie, which has but 

 little chance of escape upon the plain, but can always evade his foe among hedgerows and 

 plantations, by slipping among the branches and dodging through the foliage. Even a 

 trained falcon fails to catch a Magpie when it has once reached such an asylum, and the 

 falconer is forced to drive it from its refuge before the hawk can secure its prey. In some 

 parts of England, Magpie hawking is a favourite amusement, for the Magpie is to the full 

 as cunning as a fox, and in spite of all the array of beaters, hounds, and horsemen, not 

 unfrequently baffles its pursuers, and makes its escape in safety. 



The food of the Magpie is as multifarious as that of the crow or raven, and consists 

 of various animal and vegetable substances. It is a determined robber of other birds' 

 nests, dragging the unfledged young out of their homes, or driving its bill through their 

 eggs and thus carrying them away. Even hens' nests are not spared by this bold and 

 voracious bird, who, however, sometimes falls a victim to its marauding j)ropen.sities. 

 The aggrieved poultry-owner, after removing the eggs from all the hens' nests, empties 

 one of the eggs, and fills it again with bird-lime. This prepared egg is then placed 

 in the nest as a bait for the Magpie, who soon returns to the scene of its former robberies, 

 drives its beak into the egg, and makes off with its booty. Its triumph is, however, very 

 short-lived, for the bird soon finds itself unable to get rid of the stolen egg in the usual 



