Birds of Macedonia. 
195 
1921.] 
Pica pica. Magpie. 
A very common bird and rarely out of one’s sight, being 
found pretty well everywhere. In Macedonia it certainly 
does not show any preference for the wooded districts. 
Magpies were numerous at most of the places visited, and 
only occasionally scarce or absent, as at Baisili, in August. 
The large numbers that frequent the plain in winter, often 
feeding in the company of Jackdaws and Rooks, do not stop 
to breed in their winter quarters, although quite a number 
do nest in the country. There was a decline in numbers 
during the summer months, and an influx in the autumn. 
During cold weather in December there were chattering flocks 
of Magpies in nearly every leafless tree near the river. On 
the hills in the autumn, flocks of from twelve to twenty birds 
could be seen leading the life of true Crows, foraging for food 
on the stony ground. A good many kept in pairs throughout 
the winter. Nests were fairly common but often well hidden, 
some in trees, others in tall dense bushes. Several pairs 
bred in the neighbourhood of Ormanii ; none actually in the 
village. Young birds were seen in the nest during the first- 
week in Mav. Broods flying 19 May. The peculiar habit that 
the Magpie has of jerking its tail upwards when alighting 
served the species in good stead on the muddy Struma 
levels. I feel sure that the movement is accentuated when 
the bird alights on wet or dirty ground, and possibly there 
is a clue to the origin of the habit to be found here. The 
Magpies in Macedonia were fond of roosting in old nests, and 
a stone flung into an old Stork’s nest in the evening would 
often cause as many as eight birds to leave in single file. A 
partiality for selected roosting-places was a noticeable habit, 
and a regular flight to these places, often groups of trees of 
a good height, in the evening reminded one of the Rooks’ 
evening flights. The Magpies would settle down to rest 
with many chuckles, but once settled they sat close. I 
witnessed a good demonstration of this habit on 16 June 
at Kopriva. At sunset a large number of Magpies passed 
over the village from the direction of the hills. They 
went towards a clump of trees half-way across the plain, and 
