The Magpie 

 THE MAGPIE 



Pica rustica (Scopoli) 



This is another species against whom every man's hand 

 in this country is raised. Being much less a hird of the 

 woods and preferring to make its home in high trees growing 

 in hedgerows, or even in tall hedges, it has unfortunately 

 suffered much more than the Jay and is now very local 

 in its distribution. Bold and omnivorous, it finds little 

 difficulty in procuring a livelihood, and if it settles in the 

 neighbourhood of a poultry or game farm it must be con- 

 ceded that it will do considerable damage. On the other 

 hand, it will also destroy countless worms, slugs, mice, 

 and even young rats, so that it is by no means wholly 

 mischievous, and in other countries where it is unmolested 

 it becomes very tame and confiding, nesting in farm-yards 

 or even in the towns, and those countries seem but little 

 the worse for its presence. A fine showy bird, it is a 

 pleasure to see him as he flies with rapid beats of his short 

 wings across some field, rattling out his cheery chatter as 

 he goes. What a perky chap he looks as he struts about 

 on the fallow, or, having had his attention drawn by a 

 strange object some yards off, approaches it with a few long 

 hops and then with characteristic caution stops to examine 

 it from a distance. Satisfied that it is harmless, he stalks 

 to it with slow majestic walk, his head held high in the 

 air and slightly inclined to one side ; then suddenly he sees 

 us — a harsh chatter and off he goes to the nearest cover. 

 The nest is a huge domed structure substantially built of 



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