248 
MAGPIE. 
sticks, chiefly selected from thorn or other prickly 
shrubs, it is strongly covered over with an 
arched roof of the same materials ; two opposite 
holes are left for access and egress, so small as 
scarcely to admit the hand, and we have scarcely 
ever examined one of them without being con- 
siderably scratched and torn when procuring the 
eggs. The base of the nest, as mentioned, is 
firmly built with sticks, but in addition it is 
thickly daubed with clay, which renders it so 
strong as on a high tree to resist the effects of 
ordinary shot ; the inside is commonly lined 
with fine dried grasses. In this country, the 
Magpie, though breeding so near to houses, is a 
watchful and shy bird, arising from its persecution, 
and frequently attempted destruction on account 
of its depredations upon the game, and the inmates 
of the poultry yard ; but in some of the European 
countries where it is protected, it becomes familiar 
and devoid of fear. In Norway, Mr Hewitson 
tells us, “ It is on the most familiar terms with 
the inhabitants, picking close about their doors, 
and sometimes walking inside their houses. It 
abounds in the town of Drontheim, making its 
nest on the churches and warehouses. Few farm 
houses are without several of them breeding 
under the eaves, their nest supported by the 
spout.” * Mr Laing confirms this : “ The Mag- 
pies hop about the houses in a half tame state, 
and are never pelted by the children.”! What a 
* Mag. of Zool. and Bot. ii. p. 311. 
t Laing’s Residence in Norway, p. 111. 
