. The sportsman's British bird book . lly in threes ;but in some districtsthey repair to the plan-tations and shrubberieswhich form their favour-ite haunts in consider-able numbers at roost-ing-time. In the matterof food these birds magpie. closely resemble jays ; and, like the latter, they are accordingly hated and persecuted byfarmers and gamekeepers. From this constant persecution the bird hasprobably developed those shy and skulking habits which form someof its most distinctive traits in England. Taught, perhaps, by its ownthievish habits, the magpie constructs an almost burglar-proof nest
. The sportsman's British bird book . lly in threes ;but in some districtsthey repair to the plan-tations and shrubberieswhich form their favour-ite haunts in consider-able numbers at roost-ing-time. In the matterof food these birds magpie. closely resemble jays ; and, like the latter, they are accordingly hated and persecuted byfarmers and gamekeepers. From this constant persecution the bird hasprobably developed those shy and skulking habits which form someof its most distinctive traits in England. Taught, perhaps, by its ownthievish habits, the magpie constructs an almost burglar-proof nest,built of twigs, on a foundation of mud, and generally furnished with adomed roof, well protected by thorny branches. Inside it is neatlycarpeted with fine roots. The eggs are rather more numerous thanin the crow-tribe generally, the number in a clutch ranging from fourto seven. On a pale green or greenish blue ground they are in mostcases profusely mottled and spotted with brown and olive-brown,underlain by grey cloudings and RD STUDIOS Nuteraeker Although more nearly related to the crows and rooks (Nueifrae-a ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^° last-named species, the nutcracker caryoeataetes). ^ Placed after the latter on account of being only a comparatively scarce and irregular visitor to the British Isles. It is, in fact, a kind of spotted crow, specially distinguished, however, by the great relative shortness of the first primary quill of the wings. The close body-plumage is profusely 598 PERCHINCx BIRDS spangled with small white stars ; the wing-quills are, however, black ;the tail-feathers black, tinged with green, and, with the exception ofthe inner pair, tipped with white ; and the under tail-coverts whollywhite. A brownish tinge on the quills is distinctive of hens, whetheradult or immature. From Scandinavia to Japan, and in the mountains of central andsouth-central Europe, the nutcracker is to be found almost universallywhere large pine-forests exist, and is one of the most
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