THE AMERICAN MAGPIE. 353 



length and nearly an inch in diameter, the coarser material being used for the 

 base of the nest. The inner cup, the nest proper, resembles a Robin's nest some- 

 what, only larger, and like it is plastered with a coating of wet mud reaching 

 well up on the sides, but not quite to the rim. This coating is carefully lined 

 with fine rootlets, dry grasses, inner bark of the cottonwood tree, and hair; and, 

 in the vicinity of pine forests, with pine needles. The nest is domed over with 

 smaller sticks, and the sides are likewise protected by an open latticework of 

 similar material, thorny twigs being preferred if obtainable. The enti-ance hole 

 generally opens from the main body of the tree or bush in which the nest is 

 placed, the latter being usually found in the thickest tangle of limbs, provided 

 they are strong enough to suppoi-t the heavy structure. On good-sized trees the 

 nests are often placed well out on a limb, where they are not readily reached. 

 Some nests which I have seen measured nearly 3 feet in height by 2^ feet in 

 width; others again are much smaller and more flimsily built, scarcely half as 

 large, and only moderately domed; occasionally one is found which is almost 

 open at the top. Mr. B. J. Bretherton, writing from Kadiak, Alaska, mentions 

 a nest there, placed in a dense fir thicket, about 10 feet from the ground. It was 

 built on three saplings which grew in the shape of a triangle, the nest being built 

 around each, the center being supported by the small branches. About 5 inches 

 from the top of the nest a roof was built, open all around. He adds: "A 

 remarkable fact about this bird is its inability to keep dry; in the rainy winters 

 it may be seen day after day hopping around, literally wet to the skin, and 

 looking as if it had been dipped in a bucket of water." The inner cup of the 

 nest measures about 6 inches in width by 4 inches in depth. While on the nest 

 the tail of the bird is usually held at right angles to the body. Unless the eggs 

 are on the point of hatching it is a difficult matter to approach close enough to 

 see the bird on the nest, as the female is exceedingly suspicious and will tiy 

 to sneak quietly away at the slightest sign of danger, generally slipping' out on 

 the side opposite the intruder, as there are usually sufficiently large openings 

 in the sides of the nest to permit the bird to scramble through. 



Not infrequently two or three unoccupied nests, built probably by the same 

 pair of birds, are found in close proximity to the one in use; but the same nest 

 is often made use of for several seasons in succession. Two or three pairs some- 

 times nest close together, but as a rule each pair of birds have their own little 

 canyon or ravine in which they may be found from year to year. Thornbushes, 

 either Cratcegus rivularis or douglassi, commonly found near springy places at the 

 heads of canyons or smaller ravines, as well as in the creek bottoms proper, 

 were preferred as nesting sites by these birds wherever I have observed them. 

 Willow thickets, scrubby cottonwoods, junipers, pines, alders, and firs were also 

 used in the order named. The height of nests from the ground ranged from 4 to 

 20 feet, rarely over or under this. In Colorado, however, according to Mr. 

 Frederick M. Dille, the Magpie sometimes builds in lofty cottonwoods, from 50 to 

 60 feet from the ground; and I have seen it stated that occupied nests have been 

 found on the ground, though I have never seen one so situated. 



16896— No. 3 23 



