566 BEITISH BIRDS. 



large dome or roof, yet not sufficiently dense to hide tlie eggs from view 

 when the observer is but a short distance from them. At this stage the 

 nest will most probably be left for a day or so ere the birds commence 

 lining it with a bed of fine rootlets. No other materials but these are 

 ever used by the Magpie in lining its nest ; and they are placed so evenly 

 that the eggs lie as bare and exposed as if in a basin. The nest is very 

 bulky and almost impenetrable, from the fact that the birds usually select 

 sticks with large thorns upon them. The nest-cavity is very deep for its 

 breadth ; and the hole in the side of the basket-like roof, just above the 

 edge of the nest, is generally well concealed. 



The eggs of the Magpie are exceptionally numerous. Dixon has, in a 

 few instances, found as many as nine ; but from six to eight is the usual 

 number. They are very small in proportion to the size of the bird, many 

 of them being no larger than exceptionally large eggs of the Blackbird. 

 They vary from bluish to yellowish green in ground-coloiir, with greenish- 

 brown markings thickly and evenly distributed over the entire surface. 

 They are subject to considerable variation : some specimens are almost 

 white, with a few pale ohve-green markings at the larger end; whilst 

 others are green in ground-colour, boldly marked with deep brown and a 

 few faint underlying greyish-purple blotches. A less frequent variety is 

 precisely like the eggs of the Pied Wagtail in colour. They measure 

 from 1-45 to 1-25 inch in length, and from I'O to "9 inch in breadth. 



The Magpie only rears one brood in the season ; but if the first clutch 

 be destroyed, other eggs will be laid, this circumstance probably explain- 

 ing the late broods of this bird that we sometimes meet with. Both birds 

 sit upon the eggs, although the female performs the greater part of the 

 duties of incubation. As soon as they are able to leave the nest the 

 young birds are tended by their parents, who usually lead them to 

 the neighbouring fields in search of food. When the nest of the Magpie 

 is approached, should it only contain fresh eggs, the bird slips quickly off 

 them ; should she, however, be sitting, it often requires repeated blows on 

 the trunk of the tree to dislodge her ; and when the young birds are 

 hatched, both the parents will fly round the tree at some considerable 

 elevation uttering cries of alarm ; and their actions become still more 

 uneasy and troubled should the notes of the young birds be imitated by 

 the observer. 



The food of the Magpie is varied ; and its propensity to feed upon any 

 kind of fare too often costs the bird its life. It is charged with the 

 destruction of newly born lambs and weakly sheep ; but certainly the 

 evidence that it does so is not very clear. In the poultry-yard and the 

 game-covert, however, the mischief it works by carrying oft" the eggs and 

 young chicks is a sufficient crime to render it liable to persecution. But 

 when we bear in mind the numerous artifices adopted by birds for the safety 



