236 
CORVIDAE. 
can at all vie with the nest of the Magpie: its outside 
is of thorns arched over, and so compactly put together, 
that it is by no means an easy matter to force an entrance 
for the hand, except at the proper doorway; the state of 
my hands during bird-nesting time at school would have 
frequently borne evidence of the fact. The nest is so 
thickly cemented at the bottom, and plastered inside 
with clay, that, when placed at the top of a high tree, 
shot will scarcely penetrate it; the lining is composed 
of fine roots : the eggs are six or seven, and rarely eight, 
in number : they differ much, both in colour and in size. 
They are sometimes larger than the one figured, and more 
sparingly spotted ; sometimes very little larger than the 
eggs of the jay, and almost as thickly freckled throughout. 
