146 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
preserving parts of the country it is therefore 
rare ; but it is still one of the commonest birds on 
the moors of Wales and Cornwall, and by no 
means uncommon in other parts of the west and 
midlands. It is very numerous in Ireland, where 
it first appeared or (more probably) was introduced 
early in the seventeenth century. It is less ex- 
clusively a woodland bird than the Jay, and its 
nests are to be seen as often in hedgerow trees 
and isolated thickets as in lofty woods. It begins 
to build early in April, some weeks before the 
expanding foliage conceals the huge and con- 
spicuous nest, which is placed at any height from 
the ground, whether in the top of a large elm or 
beech, or in bare moorland countries, in a diminu- 
tive bush barely large enough to lift it off the 
turf. Where other cover is wanting, the Magpie 
has even been known to build in gooseberry- 
bushes. The nest is a solid basin of sticks and 
clay, roofed with a lighter dome of sticks, and is 
often as much as three feet in height. An outer 
framework of sticks is succeeded by a substantial 
layer of clay, and the cup so formed is lined with 
roots and grass. Above this comes the large, 
rough dome of interlaced sticks, with a small 
hole left at one side. The Magpie, being a rogue 
itself, thus seems to know enough to protect its 
conspicuous home against other winged marauders. 
