. The birds of Europe . nently conspicuous. The nest is externally constructed of sticks and twigs interwoven with great labour, becoming more com-pact as the building proceeds; within these twigs is disposed an internal coating of mud, and that againis neatly lined with fine grasses. The body of the nest is surmounted by a dome of wickerwork, having anaperture just large enough to admit the parent bird, who generally sits with her head to the hole, ready toquit the nest on the slightest alarm. The female lays six or seven eggs, mottled all over with ash-brown on a ground of greenish white. Th
. The birds of Europe . nently conspicuous. The nest is externally constructed of sticks and twigs interwoven with great labour, becoming more com-pact as the building proceeds; within these twigs is disposed an internal coating of mud, and that againis neatly lined with fine grasses. The body of the nest is surmounted by a dome of wickerwork, having anaperture just large enough to admit the parent bird, who generally sits with her head to the hole, ready toquit the nest on the slightest alarm. The female lays six or seven eggs, mottled all over with ash-brown on a ground of greenish white. The young soon assume the plumage of the adult, and follow the parent birds till the end of autumn. Our Plate represents an adult male. The head, throat, neck, upper part of the chest, and back, of a deepblack; wing-feathers on the inner webs white, on the outer, shining green; tail-feathers graduated, of agreenish-black, with bronze reflections; scapulars, breast and belly, pure white; beak, irides, legs and feet, A^UEE WIN&ED MAGFI]Pica cyanea, fWbylerJ. Drmmfromj Zvf& & en,Sbeiu-iyJ8!>E. GeuZd. Jfcjt&cl k/ CUUllmajidQl/. AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE. Pica cyanea, Wagler. It is with great pleasure that we here present, for the first time, a figure of this beautiful and elegant Magpie ;a bird which has escaped the notice of most of the authors who have expressly treated on the Ornithology ofEurope; and even M. Temminck, who has devoted so much attention to this department of the science,makes no mention of it in a work characterized by accuracy and research. It is only in that useful andlittle-known book, the Sy sterna Avium of Dr. Wagler, that any correct notice is to be found respecting it,and even his account is very slight: furnishing us with few details as respects its habits or manners, hemerely informs us that it is a native of Spain, arriving in flocks in April, frequenting bushes and willowgroves, and is distinguished, like our common species, by its impudence and cla
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectpictorialworks
