312 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



art of nest-building. Clothed in reddish brown, 

 with drooping wing and upturned beak and tail, it is 

 always frisking, hopping, and twittering, — teederee, 

 teeree, teeree. Every winter it comes flying about 

 our houses, frequenting the wood-pile, inspecting 

 holes in the wall, and prying into the densest thick- 

 ets. At a distance it might be mistaken for a small 

 rat. 



' ' In summer it lives in the pathless woods. There, 

 under the shelter of some big root that lies close 

 to the ground and is covered with a thick fleece of 

 moss, it builds a nest patterned after that of the 

 swinging titmouse. Its materials are bits of moss, 

 selected for the purpose of making the nest undis- 

 tinguishable in appearance from that to which it is 

 attached. The bird gathers these materials and 

 works them into the shape of a large, hollow ball with 

 a very small opening on one side. The interior is 

 upholstered with feathers. 



"The magpie fixes its dwelling in the top of some 

 lofty tree whence, as from an observatory, it can 

 spy from afar the approaching enemy. At the junc- 

 ture of a number of branching twigs that offer ade- 

 quate support it plants its nest, constructed of inter- 

 lacing flexible sticks with a floor of tempered earth. 

 Fine rootlets, blades of grass, and a few tufts of 

 down form the bedding for the prospective brood. 



"So far there is nothing to differentiate the struc- 

 ture from ordinary nests; but now we behold the 

 exhibition of a special talent on the magpie's part. 

 The entire nest, and more particularly its upper 



