for it also destroys large numbers of injurious insects and 
grubs, and frequently makes a meal on a vole or a field- 
mouse. It has been known, too, to kill a rat, and even a grass 
snake, and is quite ready to feast upon lizards and frogs. 
Nothing eatable, in fact, comes amiss to it. 
The magpie is one of the cleverest of nest builders, and 
always aims, not only at making a comfortable home care- 
| fully protected from the weather, but also at guarding 
, MW a it from all enemies which 
might attempt to steal its 
eggs. The nest is almost al- 
ways placed in the upper 
branches of 
a tall tree— 
Pa 
ei 
generally 
eth: one whose 
trunk is 
quitesmooth 
