58 
other birds seem to understand their 
alarming chatter. Though shy, it rarely 
removes far from the habitation of man. 
Its attachment, however, appears to be 
governed by self-interest; for it is a great 
enemy to the husbandman, but has suf- 
ficient cunning to evade his wrath. No 
animal food comes amiss to its carnivorous 
appetite; young poultry, eggs, leverets, 
young rabbits, feathered game, &c. It 
will even attack lambs by first plucking 
out their eyes; fish, insects, fruit, and 
lastly grain when nothing else can be had. 
Like others of this genus, the Magpie 
may be taught to articulate a number of 
words, and on that account it is often 
doomed to a state of vulgar captivity, in 
which its appearance partakes of the cast 
of those who confine it, the beautiful gloss 
of its colours being lost, and nothing re- 
maining but a dingy variegation of black 
and white. 
In ancient authors many absurd tales 
are told of this bird, which at the present 
day would only create a smile. It is said 
that if a person happens to espy her nest, 
