78 
MAGPIE, 
birds increased as they advanced. Here also the Blue Jay 
disappeared ; as if the territorial boundaries and jurisdiction 
of these two noisy and voracious families of the same tribe had 
been mutually agreed on, and distinctly settled. But the 
Magpie was found to be far more daring than the Jay, dashing 
into their very tents, and carrying olf the meat from the dishes. 
One of the hunters who accompanied the expedition informed 
me, that they frequently attended him while he was engaged 
in skinning and cleaning the carcass of the deer, bear, or 
bpffalo he had killed, often seizing the meat that hung within 
a foot or two of his head. On the shores of the Koos-koos-ke 
river,- on the west side of the great range of Rocky Mountains, 
they were found to be equally numerous. 
It is highly probable that those vast plains, or prairies, 
abounding with game and cattle, frequently killed for the 
mere hides, tallow, or even marrow bones, may be one great 
inducement for the residency of these birds, so fond of flesh 
and carrion. Even the rigorous severity of winter in the high 
regions along the head waters of Rio du Nord, the Arkansaw, 
and Red River, seems insufficient to force them from those 
favourite haunts ,* though it appears to increase their natural 
voracity to a very uncommon degree. Colonel Pike relates, 
that in the month of December, in the neighbourhood of the 
North Mountain, N. lat. 41° W. long. 34°, Reaumur’s ther- 
mometer standing at 17° below 0, these birds were seen in 
great numbers. “ Our horses,” says he, cc were obliged to 
scrape the snow away to obtain their miserable pittance ; and, 
to increase their misfortunes, the poor animals were attacked 
by the Magpies, who, attracted by the scent of their sore 
backs, alighted on them, and, in defiance of their wincing and 
kicking, picked many places quite raw; the difficulty of 
procuring food rendering those birds so bold, as to alight on 
our men’s arms, and eat meat out of their hands.” # 
The Magpie is eighteen inches in length ; the head, neck, 
* Pike’s Journal, p. 170. 
