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twelve or fourteen hopping on the public road. So recently, indeed, as three years ago, I counted 



twenty-eight perched on one tree at Scotstown, between Glasgow and Yoker. This was late in 



the afternoon, in winter time ; and the Magpies had apparently assembled there with the intention 



of remaining over the night, the noise of their chattering being very extraordinary. Two years 



ago a pair of these birds had their nest near Sandyford, and within the city bounds ; they were 



quite familiar in their manners, and made themselves at home, as if in the full knowledge that 



they were safer there than in the country. It is a pity that the Magpie is so mischievous and 



destructive to eggs and young game, as he is really a pleasing object when seen flying alongside a 



green belt of plantation, or perched on the summit of some tall poplar, trying to balance himself 



by a graceful movement of his ample tail. Its ordinary cry is harsh and grating, not unlike the 



noise of a policeman's rattle, or an old woman's pattens clattering on the pavement. Although 



subjected to the usual amount of persecution among game-preservers, the Magpie still maintains 



its hold in all the wooded districts of Scotland, from Wigtown to Sutherlandshire. It is yet very 



common in some parts of Ayrshire. I lately saw a dozen on a small property near Girvan, the 



owner of which did not preserve the game, and consequently had no keeper on the ground. 



Magpies, indeed, soon. find out places unfrequented by keepers, although they seldom lose their 



naturally jealous and distrustful character, unless when living in the immediate vicinity of large 



towns." In England it is generally distributed throughout the country. In the northern and 



central counties I have repeatedly seen it ; and as regards its distribution in the south, Mr. Cecil 



Smith informs me that it is " resident and common all through the west, being quite crafty 



enough to keep out of the way of the gamekeeper. In the Channel Islands it does not appear to 



be very plentiful, being probably too mischievous to be allowed to live long. I have, however, 



seen a few both in Guernsey and Sark. Some time ago I noticed a decided dislike to certain 



animal food, which dislike is probably common to all carrion-eating birds. My note on the 



subject was as follows: — Dec. 19th, 1869, trapped several Rats all through November, and with 



them one Stoat and one Weasel, or ' fair or fairy,' as it is here called ; the Magpies eat all the 



Eats, leaving only the tails, but the Stoat and Weasel were left entirely untouched. I often 



watched the Magpies eating the Rats from some adjacent cover." 



In Ireland, though now common, it is said not to have been met with in early times ; and 

 Smith, in his 'History of Cork,' states that about the year 1670 it was not known in Ireland. 

 Yarrell, who refers to this, says that "even so late as the year 1711 it seems to have been 

 confined to the neighbourhood of Wexford." 



It does not occur in Iceland, but is very common in Scandinavia, from the extreme south to 

 the North Cape. Mr. R. Collett writes that it " occurs throughout West Finmark, as far north 

 as Gjaesvaer, North Cape (71° 15'), in almost all of the fishing-localities, or in spots inhabited 

 the year round. In East Finmark it would seem to occur less abundantly. On the sea-shore, 

 in places destitute of tree-growth, it builds sometimes under the eaves of dwelling-houses, some- 

 times in piled-up brushwood. In West Finmark, where they are protected by the inhabitants, 

 being regarded as harmless birds, they live chiefly on the refuse of fish. So late as the 30th 

 of June (1872) I observed a pair at Gjaesvaer, each day busily engaged in building their nest, 

 underneath a jetty. In this spot the same pair had brought up an earlier brood in the spring of 

 the year.'' In Sweden it is common in every part of the country ; and when travelling through 



