MAGPIE 
30s 
that he does not soar, except when just coming to 
perch on the top of a tree. 
The nest is bowl-shaped and constructed of a mass 
of thin twigs firmly interwoven and lined with grass 
intermingled with rabbit's fur, but rarely with feathers ; 
it is placed near the extremity of the branch of a 
tree at a height which, taking an average, is about 20 
feet from the ground. I have seen nests in little 
pine trees which could not have been more than 
4 feet from the ground, and others 60 feet up 
in lofty eucalypts. When built in a she-oak tree on 
the plains, a long horizontal bough with a clear space 
over it is chosen. Nests of wire, built on telegraph 
lines or in trees, are quite common, even when plenty 
of normal nesting-material is available. 
The eggs number from three to five, usually the 
former ; they are of an immense variety of shades of 
green and blue with reddish spots or irregular lines. 
It is the exception to find a specimen with a well- 
developed zone, though the markings are generally 
thicker towards the larger end. We once found a 
Magpie's egg in a Raven's nest with a clutch of the 
rightful owner's eggs. 
The nesting-season is compressed into a short 
interval ; practically all Magpies about Geelong lay 
in the last week of August or first fortnight of Sep- 
tember, being just a little later than the Crows. At 
that season, as is well known, they are savage and will 
swoop upon any intruder. 
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