•'>■ of Ornitho/ftgy 

 J59 Sapsucker Woods Rogs 

 MAGPIE LIFE Comell University 



While picking their way among the wet grasses and 

 low herbage or over muddy places, their beautiful tails, as 

 their most precious treasures, are held daintily aloft, and free 

 from all pollution, as the birds search for snails, caterpillars, 

 yoimg mice and frogs. Occasionally they mount the backs 

 of grazing cattle to feed on the flies that molest them, but 

 usually they do not wander far from the thick shrubby 

 growths, where they seek cover on the approach of enemies, 

 real or supposed, and into which, on scenting danger, they 

 disappear as stealthily as cat-birds or cuckoos. It is here 

 that their homes may be foimd. 



The ramshackle nest, wholly incompatible with either 

 the fastidiousness or the intelligence of the bird, is an im- 

 mense structure of mingled sticks and mud indiscriminately 

 arranged, somewhat resembling one of the great txmible 

 weeds of the western plains, placed several feet from the 

 ground among thick masses of oak brush or similar growths 

 in the wilder regions, or, where civilization has encroached 

 on natural territory, in some fruit tree. 



That her seclusion may be more complete and to pro- 

 tect herself and young against the incursions of predatory 

 birds, the magpie covers her dwelling with a dome of twigs, 

 leaving two openings at opposite sides for entrance and exit. 

 As she sits with her head at one, her unspread tail sometimes 

 protrudes visibly from the other, betraying her whereabouts 

 at a time when she is especially desirous of escaping notice. 



Like the robin, this bird often reconstructs the old nest 

 from year to year, and, like the wren, she often builds sham 

 nests, either for the purpose of diverting attention from the 

 one occupied, or to live in should accident befall. 



Though the magpie is possessed of traits that are far 

 from admirable — as a petty thief she has fairly won the name 



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