486 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
“attacking sickly, newly branded young, or even healthy adult live¬ 
stock. ;; In certain localities, yielding to the temptation offered by 
man in depriving sheep of their protecting coats, it attacks the newly 
sheared sheep. 
At times the Magpie becomes so bold or gathers in such great 
numbers that its faults become emphasized to the degree that a local 
reduction of its numbers is warranted. But, as Mr. Kalmbach well 
puts it, “As in most if not all problems of bird control, the real need 
for drastic action against the Magpie is confined to local areas where 
one or another of its faults has become unduly emphasized.” Over 
much of its range, where it appears in moderate numbers, it is not an 
agricultural pest or a serious menace to other birds and its influence 
may even be decidedly beneficial. Consequently, Mr. Kalmbach 
concludes, “before local campaigns of control are inaugurated, careful 
consideration should be given to their necessity and scope (1927a, p. 29). 
In the San Juan Valley during the fall of 1908, Mr. Birdseye found 
the Magpies common. From October 14 to November 22, they were 
increasingly abundant at Farmington and were found down the river 
to the Colorado line, but especially at Fruitland, Liberty, and Ship- 
rock. They nested throughout that part of the San Juan Valley 
lying in New Mexico, and their nests were seen in cottonwoods at 
Blanco, Fruitland, Shiprock, and about twenty miles below Shiprock. 
At Farmington, Mr. Birdseye saw several kept as pets, one of 
them a veiy good talker, although it had been in captivity for only 
a few months. It was much less noisy than a parrot, and had a fairly 
clear, though somewhat nasal accent. 
The ordinary voice of the Magpie, Mr. Henshaw remarks, is 
singularly flexible, ranging “from a guttural chuckle to the softest 
whistle,” which explains its ability to imitate the human voice (1875, 
p. 334). “Chattering like a Magpie,” Mr. Taverner says, “hardly 
gives a clear idea of the performances. They keep it up in season and 
out, but the talk is deliberate rather than ‘chattering.' They are 
never still for a minute and their curiosity is insatiable. Every morning, 
he wrote, “our camp [in Alberta] was the center of interest and con¬ 
versation to a group of these long-tailed clowns, uniting the gravity 
of judges with the talkativeness of a debating society” (1919, p. 252). 
Along the San Juan River, French Gilman found the Magpies 
nesting everywhere, even in trees in the school yard. In recounting 
the story of one of them he says, “I was much interested in a one- 
legged old Magpie, we called her 'Peggy,' who was building in a tree 
just in front of my window. I was told that she had nested near the 
buildings the three years preceding. The old nests were much in 
demand for roof-trees by the English Sparrows, and to a less degree 
by House Finches. But I thought the limit was reached when we 
