252 
COKVUS PICA. 
uncertain. It appears, however, to be rather rare in 
that quarter. These circumstances are taken notice ot 
by Mr Peun.ant and other British naturalists. 
In 1804, the cxplorinjf party under the command of 
Captains Lewi.s and Clark, on their route to the Paciti*' 
Ocean across the continent, first met with the rnagpi* 
somewhere near the great bend of the Missouri, anil 
found that the number of these birds increased a.s thejf 
advanced. Here also the blue jay disappeared ; as 
the territorial boundaric.s and jurisdiction of these two 
tioisy and voracious families of the same tribe had 
been mutually agreed on, and distinctly settled. Bid 
the magpie w.is found to be far more daring than the 
jay, dashing into their very tents, and carrying oil' the 
meat from the dishes. One of the hunters who accoiii' 
panied the expedition informed me, that they frequently 
attended him while he was engaged in skinning and 
cleaning the carcass of the deer, bear, or buffalo he had 
killed, often seizing the meat that hung within a foo* 
or two of his head. On the shores of the Kooskoos-ki^ 
river, on the west side of the great range of rocky 
mountain.s, they were found to be equally numerous. 
It is highly probable that those vast plains or prairieSi 
abounding with game and cattle, frequently killed fC 
the mere hides, tallow, or even marro«' bones, may bi^ 
one great inducement for the residency of these birds> 
so fond of llesh and carrion. Even the rigorous severity, 
of winter in the high regions along the head waters n* 
Rio du Rord, the Arkaasaw, and Red River, seetf® 
insufficient to force them from tliose favourite liaunts* 
though it appears to increase their natural voracity h* 
a very uncommon degree. Colonel Pike relates, thst 
in the month of December, in the neighbourhood of tb® 
North Mountain, N. lat. 41° long. .04°, Reaumur '’ 
thermometer standing at 17° below 6, these birds wer^ 
seen in great numbers. “ Our horses,” says 
“ were obliged to scrape the snow away to obtain thek 
miserable pittance ; and, to increase their misfortune^’ 
the poor animals were attacked by the magpies, " bi'' 
attracted by the scent of their sore backs, alighted n>' 
