Its Beaidiful Phimage. 



iig 



off at once and brings home another wife, who takes to the nest 

 and eggs, just as if she had laid them ; and if by another mis- 

 chance she too should come to an untimely end, the widower 

 again goes off, and, without any loss of time, brings back a 

 third wife, and she takes to her duties quite as naturally and lov- 

 ingly as the other did ; but where all these surplus mothers 

 come from is a question which no naturalist has yet answered, 

 and the magpie, with all his chattering, is not clever enough to 

 explain the wonder. 



The beauty of this bird's plumage is familiar to all ; and 

 although it is simply black and white, yet the exquisitely- 

 coloured gloss of green, blue, and purple, with their varying 

 and intermingling tints, produce such a charming effect that 

 one cannot sufficiently admire them. 



With the external structure of the magpie's nest we are 

 acquainted : the lower part, inside, is neatly plastered with 

 mud, "and is furnished," says Bewick, "with a sort of mat- 

 tress, formed of wool or fibrous roots, on which from three to 

 six eggs are laid." The eggs frequently vary, both in size 

 and colour ; sometimes they are of a pale green, freckled over 

 with amber-brown and light purple ; sometimes pale blue, with 

 smaller spots of the same dark colours. 



The nest is, so to speak, a sort of little domed chamber, of 

 a good size for its purpose ; but then comes the question — - 

 What does the magpie do with her long tail as she sits on her 

 eggs ? It would certainly poke a hole through the wall if left 

 to its full extent ; she must, therefore, lift it up, as she does 

 when walking amongst the wet grass, and sit with it laid flat 

 against the wall, which probably is not inconvenient to her. 



