Passeres 



91 



jake." The curious tumbling flight, the gregarious 

 habits, and the thievish propensities are matters of 

 common knowledge ; the food consists of insects, 

 worms, sheeps' parasites, and so forth, and also of any 

 eggs the bird can procure. Single pairs often choose 

 hollow trees or chimneys for their big stick and wool 



Magpie's nest 



nest, but colonies are very common and btdld in holes 

 in cliffs, ruins, church towers, and other like placeS, as 

 well as in rabbit-holes on the hills. Some half-dozen 

 green or more rarely bltiish eggs are laid, with black, 

 brown, and olive blotches or spots. 



The Raven {G. corax) is now a rare bird in most 

 places, though formerly it commonly bred inland in 



