272 
Birds, 
culty be taught to pronounce several words. They conceal 
such parts of their food as they cannot eat, and often, 
along with it, small pieces of money or toys, frequently 
occasioning, for the moment, suspicions of theft in per- 
sons who are innocent. In Switzerland there is found 
a variety of the Jackdaw, which has a white ring round 
its neck. In Norway, and other cold countries, they 
have been seen entirely white. In a state of nature, 
jackdaws and rooks frequently feed together, and the 
Jackdaws come to meet the rooks in the morning, and 
also accompany them for some distance on their retreat 
at night. 
THE MAGPIE. (Pica caudata.) 
" From bough to bough the restless Magpie roves, 
And chatters as he flies." Gisborne. 
This bird resembles the daw, except in the whiteness of 
the breast and wings, and the length* of the tail. The 
black of the feathers is accompanied with a changing 
gloss of green and purple. It is a very loquacious crea- 
ture, and can be taught to imitate the human voice as 
well as any of the feathered creation. 
Plutarch relates a singular story of a Magpie belong- 
ing to a barber at Rome, which could imitate, to a 
wonderful extent, almost every noise that it heard. 
Some trumpets happened one day to be sounded before 
the shop ; and for a day or two afterwards the Magpie 
