THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
year, or about six months after leaving the nest. Although every year there 
were five or six nests within sight of my house, the party that habitually fed 
within a few yards of it was almost always eleven in number, excepting during 
the breeding season, as previously mentioned. The birds became excessively 
tame, feeding close to the house and even on the verandah. Whenever I 
began cutting up the carcase of a sheep at the meat safe, 10 yards from the 
house, this party of birds would hasten up at the sound of the meat chopper, 
and some of the bolder birds used to take scraps of meat from my fingers. They 
used to peck particles of fat and meat from the sheepskins hung in the out- 
buildings to dry, and do considerable damage by tearing holes in them. When 
food was thrown to the fowls in the large netted fowl run, some of the bolder 
male Magpies often chased the fowls away from their meal. On the other 
hand, the Magpies would allow no Hawk to come near, but several of them 
would unite in attacking and driving any away that came too close, and also 
attacked Wedge-tailed Eagles in the same way, bullying them until they were 
glad to leave the premises. Cats, Owls, etc., were also attacked and mobbed. 
When some of the surrounding nests of the Magpies had young birds, the adult 
males would savagely fly at anyone going near, usually coming up from behind 
one, with a peculiar buzzing whirr of their wings, and a vicious snap of the 
beak as they passed within a few inches of one’s head. Sometimes they came 
from the front straight for one’s face, until within about a yard, when they 
swerved above or aside. Although none of us were ever actually pecked, 
we judged it wise not to allow our children to go away from the house unattended 
at such times. Although I never saw a Magpie actually attack young lambs, 
I have so very frequently seen them eating out the eyes, and feeding on the 
flesh of freshly killed and bleeding lambs, that I have not the slightest doubt 
but that they do kill weakly lambs, unable to walk, that are abandoned by their 
mothers. Several of my neighbours assured me that they had seen Magpies 
killing, under such circumstances, live lambs. On one occasion I poisoned 
the carcase of a lamb upon which, a Wedge-tailed Eagle had been feeding. 
The next day seven dead Magpies and a Brown Hawk were alongside it. In 
April, 1912, as my small crop of grapes in the orchard was rapidly diminishing, 
I carefully covered the row of vines with small mesh wire netting, on a frame- 
work of sticks and w'ell weighted down to the ground. The next morning I 
found the house party of Magpies had managed to force a way underneath, and 
had finished off the rest of the grapes. These birds also eat small figs off the 
tree, but don’t seem to trouble peaches or apples. On Oct. 25th, 1907, I saw 
in a cage at Katanning (12 miles from Broome Hill) a beautiful variety of this 
species, which was of a uniform silver-grey colour. I was informed that it 
had been obtained from a brood of young of the same colour, on the Buchanan 
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