The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-29
MAGPiES.

1 I first made the acquaintance of the
 magDie many years ago, in England,
 where the bird is a historical character, ranking with the English robin, the blue heron and the peregrine falcon. In fact,
 in the days of faiconry, the magpie was 1 often hawked for in open, bush-studded
 country, it's strikingly marked plumage enabling the spectators to easily follow l the progress of the sport I used to set 1 him in an old-fashioned garden, and
 never tired of watching him, as he went about his business as only a member of
 the crow family can. Now he would walk gravely across the lawn, with his ! long tail tilted up in the air, stopping now and then to unearth some hiding
 insect, or to look about him with his head tipped coquettishly on one side;
 now he would be proceeding along the edge of a piece of shrubbery, hunting
 for worms and other small prey. his shining black and white plumage in dazzling contrast to the velyety shadow | of the shrubs. At another time, he
 would be seen jumping downward, one 1 branch at time from the top of tall I tree, to get nearer view of a cat, who | was summing herself on a wall beneath, l at the same time chattering in the we'll ! known manner which becomes so mor1o- | torlotIs to any one but lover of birds. But whatever he did was done with that odd mixture of gravity and mirth which will ever make interesting the doings of
 crows, jays and magpies. < T 1tsafs esting and decorative bird Is not found in the eastern part of the United States. but in the west he is represented by two species, the black billed and the yellow | billed magpies. The latter is now found only fin q certain restricted area in Cali i fornia, and, owing chiefly to his con- spicuous voice and plumage, which an-
 nounces his presence to every gunner | who comes his way, he is in danger of total extermination. The former, how ever is a fairly common bird over a
 large part of the West, and shall con- | fine myself chiefly to a description of
 him and his habits.
 The black-billed magpie is about twenty inches long, including his tail, which takes up more than hal the ! total length. The greater part of his pIumage is glossy black, with bronzy metallic reflections, but the lower breast | and belly are white, and the scapulars, l being also white, form two conspicuous | patches on the wings. Long streaks of white on the inner veins of the primary l feathers show most conspicuously when the bird is in flight. Altogether he is l frJc
 i'll North America. That he has not
 been exterminated is no doubt due largely to his intelligence, for, like his relatives the crow and the jay. he | is bold enough to take advantage of
 everything which is useful without be- ling dangerous. but crafty enough as a
 rule, to keep out of trouble. Another point in his favor is that he can eat al-
 most anything, and, all things being | equal, the animal which can eat the ! greatest variety of food will survive
 the longest, in the winter he will eat
 literally anything including carrion,
 and whatever he can steal from his
 neighbors. In the spring he fares | sumptuous1y, his bill-of-fare being a long one, and including mice and other
 small mammals, small birds, birds eggs
 and young birds, crawfish and numerou I insects; in the summer he does the
 farmer good turn by eating grasshop- pers, grubs and 8. very destructive black cricket, and in the fall he pays himself by stealing such fruit as he can | get away without being shot.
 l At most times of the year he is 8
 noisy fellow, squawking loudly over
 everything he does and everything he
 sees, and alarming the game which the
 hunter has been patiently stalking for house, perhaps. But in the nesting
 season it is different; he has not word 1 for any one. He has secret, and he guards it with all the caution which lcharacterizes the entire crow family. 1 The nest itself is huge structure, as
 bushel basket, perhaps; built amongst ! thorns or other bushes, or in small | trees: sometimes quite close to the ground, and at other times fifteen or twenty feet up. Externally, it consists | of a mass of coarse sticks, but inside of | this is the nest proper which is made of
 mud and lined with softtish materials, such as grass and hair and rootlets. The eggs, usually seven in number, generally have grayish ground color,
 but are so heavily blotched with brown that gray is sometimes difficult to find. The young birds are knowing lit- little rascals, and are often taken from ! -.