The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-02-06
MAcPtEs M NEVADA.
A 0srruIous Specimen That Gossips with
Railroad Passene gers Bold Thieves.

The inagpie il d bird of peculiar In
terest wherever he may be found. says
the Virginia City Enterprise. and par
ticularly SO Ia the state OF Nevada,
where he ranks as q speciality. like the
..Washoc canary His stout. sharp
beak-like miners pick--his un-
reasonable long stiff tail, and his live
", squawky, chattering voice would
make him a marked specially any
where. AS rattling conversationalist
he rivals the parrot. the raven. or the
crow, and he Is easily domesticated.
making a very comical and amusing
pet.
Down at Mound House~junction of
the G. & C. with the v. & Il. railroad
lis another lively young magpie. He
belongs to Dave Pittman, conductor on
the G. & c., and makes himself at home
i'm and around the depot He es-
pecialIy enjoys flying into the open
door or window of some temporarily
stopping passenger car and having q
garrulous chat with the passengers.
The other morning. for instance, when
the local passenger train stopped there.
as usual. Barney flew in through the
rear door, perched himself on the back
OF one of the seats. aud astonished the
L
| bility OF his linguistic powers. He vol
unteered more information than any
body had heard or he knew himself,
waiting for no introduction to those
who didn't know him. Everybody
| liked him and listened TO him like an
oracle. One familiar gentleman adj
dressed him:
Il say. Barney"
s.What?"
Are you there, BarneyP"
"Ah, there-pretty goodi An. there
-ha. ha. hal dammit, get QUIT dry up
--iatsr'
Where are you going. BarneyP Are
you q deadhead on this tramp
That's what. Hurrahl ha, ha. you
betI rats. ratsr'
What's the news in politics. Bar
neyP Who's getting in?''
Barney. Barney. ha. ha, whoo.
whooi dammit. ratsin
But who is going to be the next
congressman"
John Mackay. John Mackayi ha.
ha. John Mackayi'
But which party is going to win. re-
publicans or democrats?m
'.Ratsi ratsi ratsi ha. hal dammit
ratsi''
just here Jerry Bray. the con-
ductor. stepped in from the baggage
room.
Get out o. here. you long-tailed
rascal. whooshi'' and with a wild. de-
risive squawk Barney fitted out of the
back door. flying back toward Mound
House. oh. what q pity now" some
of the ladies exclaimed; .he'll be lost. =
Never you fear for him, ladies'" re-
1 n n r.. - ~ -
run him out of this every day. Never
allow him to deadhead any further
than the Eureka dump" The train
men. freight-handIers. and every body
about Mound House station knows
Barney and handle him faniliarly. We
have to be on their guard lest be should
take sly notion to nip small chunl
out of their finger or back of theil
hand with his sharp. stout beak.
Three or four days ago. at the board
ing-house near the station. he was hav
ing little concert with a pet canary
when. out of pure rollicking fun, b,
gave his musical little friend a joyia
poke with his bill under the left ear
Directly after Barney stood over hin
watching his death struggles, with hi
head cooked contemplatively over on
side, muttering Dammit. rats. rats
rats Barney was arrested and Gagged
but for the two days that he languishes
in the bastile he never spoke word o.
even squawked.
The magpie is a mischievously de
structive fowl. perhaps more so in SOM
localities than others. Harry / Bat
cock, the well-known mercantii,
traveller. tells the following whic
would be hard to believe coming fror
most ANYBODY else. GlHgage's oil
station on the Tuscarora road. eight o
nine miles from Elko. has been de-
serted for some time. and the magpie.
have taken possession of it They tor
the shingles of the roof to get inside
and picked the lock of the door. Tbei
they carried off bedding. blankets. ant
whatever odds and ends of provision
and things they could find. They eyel
got away with the cooking utensils an,
stove-eovers, and one day the passing
stage-driver saw about forty of then
doing their best to pack off the stove
but it was too much for them. Thel
squawked terribly over their failure
/ hr,t had to rico