MAGPIE. 
221 
upon them still living, till their flesh was raw and bleed- 
ing. They were even so bold and familiar as to alight on 
the men’s arms, and eat flesh out of their hands.* 
To the party of Lewis and Clark the Magpies were 
also very familiar and voracious, so that they penetrated 
into their tents, and without ceremony, like the Harpies 
of Virgil, snatched the meat even from the dishes, pre- 
ferring the chance of any death to that of pining hunger. 
They were also frequent attendants on the hunters, and 
while these were engaged in dressing and skinning their 
game, the Pies would venture to seize the meat sus- 
pended within a foot or two of their heads. 
Impelled by hunger, this species does not refuse to feed 
on carrion, but their usual familiar visits to the backs of 
cattle have a beneficial tendency, as they rid them of the 
larvae which burrow and nestle in the skin ; they also eat 
various kinds of grain, acorns, seeds, fruits, and other 
vegetable substances, and are greedy of worms, and in- 
sects of all kinds. 
The Pie is also easily domesticated, and taught to imi- 
tate the human voice, articulating words with distinctness 
and emphasis. One which I saw, thus familiarized, was 
very fond of accosting passengers by what ? what ? ivhat ? 
and hearing the inmates where he dwelt energetically 
pronounce oaths, he became an adept at profane language. 
He is readily accustomed to the sight of man, being very 
familiar in the house, of which, in time, he makes him- 
self the master; not fearing even the cats, with whom he 
has been known to live securely, and even pass upon 
them various tricks. 
He is extremely restless, active, and capricious on the 
ground, over which he leaps with antic gait, and con- 
* Pike’s Journal, p. 170. 
18 * 
