312 MAGPIE. 



first quill feathers are white in the middle on the inner web ; the tail is 

 nine inches and a half long-, and very cuneiform, the outer feathers not 

 being much above half as long- as the middle ones ; legs and claws 

 black. 



The female differs only from the other sex in being rather less, and 

 in the tail being shorter. 



It has been very justly remarked, that England does not produce a 

 more beautiful bird than the Magpie ; but that those who have only seen 

 the dirty mutilated specimens in captivity can form no idea of its native 

 beauty. These birds generally continue in pairs the whole year ; and 

 though shy, it rarely removes far from the habitation of man. Its at- 

 tachment, however, is governed by self-interest ; it is a great enemy to the 

 husbandman, but has cunning enough to evade his wrath. No animal 

 food comes amiss to its carnivorous appetite ; young poultry, eggs, young 

 lambs, and even weakly sheep, it will attempt to destroy by first pluck- 

 ing out their eyes ; the young of hares, rabbits, and feathered game, 

 share the same fate ; fish, carrion, insects, and fruit ; and, lastly, grain, 

 when nothing else can be got. It is an artful clamorous bird, pro- 

 claiming aloud any apparent danger, and thereby giving notice to its 

 associates. Neither the fox nor any other wild animal can appear with- 

 out being noticed and haunted ; even the fowler is frequently spoiled of 

 his sport, for all other birds seem to know the alarming chatter of 

 this bird. 



Its nest is curiously built for the defence of its young ; it is of an 

 oval shape, made of sticks, generally the black thorn, strongly woven 

 together, with only a sufficient entrance on one side ; the bottom is 

 plastered with earth, and lined with fibrous roots. 



* Amongst our larger birds the Magpie excels all her congeners in 

 architectural skill, though several of the older naturalists were inclined 

 to attribute to her more ingenuity than facts will corroborate. Alber- 

 tus Magnus, for example, says, " she not only constructs two passages 

 for her nest, one for entering and another for going out, but frequently 

 makes two nests on contiguous trees, with the design of misleading 

 plunderers, who may as readily choose the empty nest as the one con- 

 taining the eggs ; on the same principle that Dionysius the Tyrant had 

 thirty sleeping-rooms." Others maintain that the opening opposite the 

 passage is for the tail of the mother Magpie when hatching ; but before 

 speculating upon the use of this, it would have been well to ascertain 

 its existence ; for among the numerous Magpies' nests which I have 

 seen, (two very perfect ones are now before me,) the alleged second 



