53 
1871.] 
AMERICAN AG-R1CULT UR1ST. 
access without exposure to the public gaze, or 
Lo the inclemency of the weather. 
2. The absolute prevention of the contami¬ 
nation of the atmosphere of the house with the 
foul exhalation so com¬ 
mon with water-closets. 
3. Avoidance of the 
poisoning of the drink¬ 
ing-water wells by the 
infiltration of faecal 
matters from' cesspools 
and privy vaults; an al¬ 
most invariable source 
of typhoid fever, dysen¬ 
tery, and other diseases. 
4. The saving of all 
the valuable manure 
produced by the family. 
o. Absolute cleanli¬ 
ness and purity by the 
-aid of means that the 
place itself affords,with¬ 
out dependence on pub¬ 
lic water-works, with 
taxation, and the heavy 
bills of the plumber. 
American Magpie. 
We are so familiar 
with Magpies, and 
Jackdaws, Rooks and 
Ravens in English and 
European literature, 
that it seems almost a 
serious lack in our 
American fauna that we 
have none—and must 
make our garrulous 
and omniverous crow 
stand as a representative of the genus, sup¬ 
ported by the Crow black bird and the Blue- 
jay. The Crow black bird is very much like 
the Jackdaw, and there is a larger biid, close 
akin common at the South, which beats a 
closer resemblance. At the West, we have an 
American Magpie, if it be not the real Euro¬ 
pean one itself. This matter of identity is a 
question for the 
savans. Our artist 
has given us a very 
pretty picture of 
this famous chatter¬ 
box, taken from liv¬ 
ing specimens pro¬ 
cured at the far 
West. The birds are 
not uncommon in 
the interior of Tex¬ 
as, Western Louisi¬ 
ana and northward 
and westward to the 
Pacific coast; and 
this might indeed 
indicate a common 
origin with the 
magpie of the Old 
World. Chas. Bon¬ 
aparte gave it the 
name of Pica Hud- 
$onica, from its be¬ 
ing common in the 
Hudson Bay Com¬ 
pany’s possessions. 
Other naturalists call it Pica melanoleuca , 
which is the name given to the European one. 
The engraving gives a good general idea of 
the bird. The males are 18 to 22 inches in total 
length, the females smaller. The general color 
is black, with brilliant green and steel-blue 
iridescent reflections; the shoulders, under parts 
of the body, and flight feathers are white, mak¬ 
ing bri»-ht contrasts; the white spots running 
COTTAGE AT NEWPORT, R. I. 
together, and into grayish-white upon the back. 
Magpies mate for life, “ for better, for worse, 
remain in pairs all the year, rear then 
families, and keep them with them until well 
able to shift for themselves. Their habits are 
much like the crows, as is also their food, and 
manner of hopping about upon the ground. 
When pressed by hunger they 
AMERICAN MAGPIE. 
being easily captured, and are then domestica¬ 
ted with facility. The magpie builds its nest in 
high trees when it can do so, but takes a more 
humble position if necessary. The structure is 
thus described by Macgillivray, in his history of 
British birds: “It is a large, and therefore 
generally a very conspicuous fabric, of a sphe¬ 
roidal or eliptical form, composed first of a layer 
of twigs, on which is laid a quantity of mud, 
then a dome of twigs, 
loosely but securely in¬ 
terlaced, while tie bot¬ 
tom of the interior is 
lined with fibrous roots, 
and there is left in the 
side an aperture barely 
sufficient to admit the 
bird. The eggs are from 
three to six, and differ 
considerably in form 
and coloring. Fre¬ 
quently they are pale 
green, speckled all over 
with umber-brown and 
light purple, and some¬ 
times pale blue, bluish- 
white or greenish- 
white, with smaller 
spots of the same dark 
colors. The notes of 
the magpie are a harsh 
call, like pay, pay , and 
a lively chatter when 
several are together. It 
is rather remarkable 
that, abundant as these 
birds are in the Rocky 
Mountain region, they 
are unknown in the 
older States. Were, 
they to be introduced, 
We should find them 
eating field mice, snails, 
grubs and worms of 
many kinds, birds’ 
eggs, young birds, even chickens, sometimes, be- 
sfdes carrion, and occasionally grain and fruits, 
like the crow. It is a shy bird, easily alarmed, and 
only bold when sorely pressed for want of food. 
Wilson and Audubon, in their descriptions of 
the Mairpie, both quote the experience of Lieut.- 
Col. Pike when on the Red River, in Louisiana, 
ago. He said “our horses were 
obliged to scrape 
the snow away to 
obtain their miser¬ 
able pittance; and, 
increase their mis¬ 
fortune, the poor 
animals were at¬ 
tacked by the mag¬ 
pies, which, attract¬ 
ed 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 these 
birds so bold, as to 
alight on our men’s 
arms and eat meat 
out of their hands.” 
Nuttall says, in 
speaking of the mag¬ 
pies met with on 
Snake River, “The old birds were shy, but the 
young birds were so familiar and greedy, ap¬ 
proaching our encampment in quest of food, as 
to be easily taken by the Indian hoys, when they 
soon became reconciled to savage domesticity.” 
i 
