56 
NATURAL ISTORV. 
is remarkable for two bunches of stiff hair about three inches 
long, which spring out from the corners of his mouth, and 
which have the full effect of a pair of whiskers. The bird 
itself is not above the size of a blackbird. 
1 he Bald crow, which inhabits Cayenne, is as singular 
for an opposite quality, which is, that the fore part of the 
head, as far as the crown, is entirely bare of feathers. 
In Mexico there are Pied ravens, and in Norway and Ice- 
land there are some which are white. The variegated crow 
of Ferroe in its plumage somewhat resembles the magpie; 
and the white breasted crow, which inhabits China, Indos- 
tan, and Africa, is still more beautiful. There are almost 
as many varieties in the Daw species. 
The Magpie is too well known to need a description. In- 
deed, were its other accomplishments equal to its beauty, few 
birds could be put in competition. Its black, its white, its 
green and purple, with the rich and gilded combination of 
the glosses on its tail, are as fine as any that adorn the most 
beautiful of the feathered tribe. But it has too many of the 
qualities of a beau to depreciate these natural perfections : 
vain, restless, loud, and quarrelsome, it is an unwelcome 
intruder every where; and never misses an opportunity, 
when it finds one, of doing mischief. 
The magpie bears a great resemblance to the butcher-bird 
in its bill, which has a sharp process near the end of the up- 
per chap, as well as in the shortness of its wings, and the form 
of the tail, each feather shortening from the two middlemost. 
But it agrees still more in its food, living notouly upon worms 
and insects, but also upon small birds, when they can be 
seized. A wounded lark, or a young chicken separated 
from the hen, are sure plunder; and the magpie will even 
sometimes set upon and strike a blackbird. 
The same insolence prompts it to seize the largest animals 
when its insults can be offered with security. They often are 
seen perched upon the back of an ox or a sheep, pecking up 
the insects to be found there, chattering and tormenting’ the 
poor animal at the same time, and stretching out their necks 
for combat, if the beast turns its head backward to apprehend 
them. They seek out also the nests of birds; and, if the 
parent escapes, the eggs make up for the deficiency : the 
thrush and the blackbird are but too frequently robbed by 
this assassin, and this in some measure causes their scarcity. 
No food seems to come amiss to this bird ; it shares with 
ravens in their carrion, with rooks in their grain, and with the 
cuckoo in their eggs : but it seems possessed of a providence 
seldom usual with gluttony; for when it is satisfied for the 
