PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



known to all ornithologists, but no man looks upon it with 

 greater misgivings than the gamekeeper, for the simple 

 reason that he knows its artfulness is on a parallel with its 

 destructiveness, consequently it is war to the knife with 

 "Maggie." As showing the prevalence of Magpies and 

 allied pests, a gamekeeper destroyed in three weeks one 

 hundred and eighty nine, most of which were Magpies. Its 

 colour is mostly glossy black, with purple and green reflec- 

 tions. The scapular feathers are white, the belly is snow- 

 white, and the bill and the feet black. The former is pointed 

 and strong, which enables it to readily pierce eggs. The 

 hen bird is smaller than the male, and its bill a bit shorter. 

 It has a jerky flight, and does not remain long in the air. It 

 is a restless, noisy bird, and strangely suspicious of man, 

 preferring to remain in the open where it can take into 

 account all that is going on, with a minimum of risk against 

 its being shot. 



Sometimes these birds are seen upon the backs of cattle, 

 searching for ticks or for maggots. The food comprises 

 worms, insects, young birds, eggs, acorns, beech-mast, 

 fruit, etc., but it is its egg-destructive properties which 

 renders it a foe to the keeper. It is a single-brooded bird, 

 and generally begins to build its nest about the end of March, 

 though sometimes in May, and is a bold bird when nesting. 

 The nest is usually placed near the summit of a tree, and 

 the Magpie displays remarkable ingenuity in the construc- 

 tion of this necessary receptacle for the perpetuation of the 

 individual. It is very firmly planted in the tree, and it must 

 be rare to find a Magpie's nest dislodged during a gale, 

 no matter however severe — in fact, the author believes that 

 there would only be two ways of dislodging it, namely, 

 either its forcible removal by the hand or the levelling of the 

 tree to the ground. 



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