MAGPIE. 563 



rapidly decreasing, and districts that once were its favourite retreats are 

 quickly becoming deserted or have already ceased to afford it a con- 

 genial home. In spite of this persecution, however, the Magpie is fairly 

 common, and breeds in almost all parts of England; but in the 

 Channel Islands it appears to be very local. In Scotland, according to 

 Mr. Gray, it is found in all the wooded districts from Wigtown to Suther- 

 landshire, and is very common in some parts of Ayrshire, although it 

 appears not to visit the Outer Hebrides, and only occasionally to stray 

 to Islay and Mull, where it does not breed. It has never occurred 

 in the Orkneys or the Shetlands. In Ireland the ilagpic is pretty 

 common in suitable localities ; and it would appear that it was formerly 

 much rarer than it is at the present time, if not actually absent altogether, 

 as the general belief in Ireland is that this bird was imported by the 

 English. 



The Magpie is found throughout the Palaearctic Region north of the 

 Mediterranean, Syria, South Persia, and of the lowlands of Baluchistan; 

 in the Oriental Region it is found iu the Himalayas, Japan, South China, 

 Formosa, and Hainan ; and in the Nearctic Region it is found throughout 

 the western United States, but only occurs east of the Missouri river in 

 winter. In the north it extends up to and occasionally beyond the Arctic 

 circle. It is migratory in the northern portions of its range ; and on migra- 

 tion it appears that individuals occasionally stray beyond their usual limit, 

 as it has been recorded from Egypt and Aleppo. Throughout its extensive 

 range it is subject to slight variations ; and two forms have apparently 

 become sufficiently differentiated to rank as good species. The most 

 distinct of them, P. nuttalli, is apparently confined to South CaUfornia. 

 Its only distinction from the common species appears to be that the bill 

 and the naked skin behind the eye are yellow instead of black. In 

 Morocco and Algeria P. niauritanica occurs, a species differing from 

 typical examples of the common bird in being shghtly smaller, in ha\ing 

 no light patch on the rump, and the bare spot behind the eye more deve- 

 loped and blue in colour. The black rump, however, is a very doubtful 

 character. The amount of white varies very considerably in Eui-opean 

 individuals, and is entirely absent from some specimens fi-om Portugal 

 and South Spain, and from Bhotan in the North-east Himalayas, birds 

 from the latter district having been consequently described as a distinct 

 species under the name of P. bottanens'm. Besides these variations, there 

 is a considerable difference in the extent of white on the primaries, and in 

 the length of the first primary and the tail. The white on the primaries 

 is most developed in birds from Siberia and Central Asia ; and in some 

 adult males from these localities it frequently extends to the point of the 

 feather on some of the primaries. This form has received the name of 

 P. leucoptera. The white is least developed in examples from Thibet, ia one 



2o2 



