THE COMMON MAGPIE. 



101 



and frequent enemy, man. By the borders of streams in the central table- 

 land of the Rocky Mountains, in several places we saw the old nests of the 

 Magpie, made usually in low but thick bushes in the usual manner, barri- 

 caded over and floored with interlaced twigs. We scarcely ever saw them 

 at all in the heavy forests of the Lower Columbia, any more than the Platte 

 and Missouri, in all which places they are merely accidental visiters. They 

 are not uncommon, however, in the vicinity of Monterey in Upper 

 California. Their common call is pay pay, and the usual low social chatter 

 when approaching their companions. I one day observed a small flock, and 

 among the fraternity heard one chattering familiarly in the varied tune of 

 the Cat-bird, as he sat on a bough by the water, where birds might become 

 his prey. At another time I observed a flock of young Magpies boldly per- 

 secuting other birds, and chasing even Pigeon Hawks." 



The following characteristic account of the habits of the Magpie as 

 observed in Scotland, I have extracted from my friend Macgillivray's 

 "History of British Birds." "It is generally distributed in Britain, being 

 more or less common in all the cultivated and wooded districts of England 

 and Scotland, both in the interior and along the coast, although nowhere 

 numerous, on account of the hostility of gamekeepers, gardeners, and sports- 

 men of all degrees. There, on the old ash that overshadows the farm-yard, 

 you may see a pair, one perched on the topmost twig, the other hopping 

 among the branches, uttering an incessant clatter of short hard notes, 

 scarcely resembling any thing else in nature, but withal not unpleasant, at 

 least to the lover of birds. How gracefully she of the top twig swings in 

 the breeze! OiF she starts, and directing her flight towards the fir wood 

 opposite, proceeds with a steady, moderately rapid, but rather heavy flight, 

 performed by quick beats of her apparently short wings, intermitted for a 

 moment at intervals. Chattering by the way, she seems to call her mate 

 after her; but he, intent on something which he has spied, hops downwards 

 from twig to branch, and descends to the ground. Raising his body as high 

 as possible, and carrying his tail inclined upwards, to avoid contact with the 

 moist grass, he walks a few paces, and spying an earthworm half protruded 

 from its hole, drags it out by a sudden jerk, breaks it in pieces, and swallows 

 it. Now, under the hedge he has found a snail, which he will presently 

 detach from its shell. But something among the bushes has startled him, 

 and lightly he springs upwards, chattering the while, to regain his favourite 

 tree. It is a cat, which, not less frightened than himself, runs off toward the 

 house. The Magpie again descends, steps slowly over the green, looking 

 from side to side, stops and listens, advances rapidly by a succession of leaps, 

 and encounters a whole brood of chickens, with their mother at their heels. 

 Were they unprotected, how deliciously would the Magpie feast, but alas, 



