CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 383 



old nest and undertake the bringing up of a second 

 family. He teaches the young to catch food on the 

 wing, just as the Arkansas and Cassin kingbirds teach 

 theirs, and as I believe all flycatchers do, — by releasing 

 a maimed insect in the air just in front of the hungry 

 little one, who, forgetting fear, instinctively darts out to 

 catch it. At this the father gives a cheery note of tri- 

 umph, which the nestling soon imitates and unconsciously 

 begins to utter whenever he is successful in seizing his 

 small prey. This and a low twitter during the mating 

 season, and the conventional announcement of his name 

 in a plaintive tone, are all the songs he ever sings. 



475. BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE. — Pica pica hudsonia. 



Family : The Crows, Jays, Magpies, etc. 



Length: 17.40-21.75. 



Adults: General plumage iridescent black, except belly and wing- 

 patches white ; bill and naked skin of orbital regions black ; tail 



long and graduated. 

 Young: Head, neck, etc. dull black, without iridescence, on crown. 

 Geographical Distribution : Middle and Western North America, Alaska 



and Hudson Bay to Northern Arizona and New Mexico ; east to 



Eastern Colorado. 

 Breeding Range: East of the Sierra Nevada, north to Shasta valley, 



south to Mono Lake. 

 Breeding Season : April 20 to July 1 . 

 Nest : Globular ; 2 feet in diameter and 3 feet high ; made of sticks, 



inner walls of mud, lining of fine rootlets ; entrance hole on one side ; 



placed in small oaks, cottonwoods, and pines, 3 to 20 feet from the 



ground. 

 Eggs: 7; grayish, heavily and regularly blotched with brown. Size 



1.37 X 0.89. 



To the tourist or sojourner from the East, the Magpie 

 is one of the most interesting features of Western fauna, 



