the indictment which he and others have drawn up against it
as a spoiler may contain no charge that is absolutely unfounded,
yet the example set by the thrifty husbandmen of
France, Belgium and Scandinavia shews that the presence
of this bird is not fraught with so much danger to their live
stock as its prosecutors would make out, for in all those lands,
and especially in Sweden and Norway, it is the tolerated if
not the cherished neighbour of every farmer, its depredations
being practically unfelt.
With regard to the charges often made of destroying
lambs and weakly sheep by plucking out their eyes, it is
quite likely that such cases have happened, but their
number must be small, and there is great want of admissible
evidence as to the alleged facts.* The sucking of eggs and
the carrying off of young poultry would seem to be the
gravest crimes commonly committed by the Pie near homesteads,
for its pilfering of fruit-gardens does not amount to
much. To game, however, it is very injurious, or rather
would be so but that little skill is needed to lay the poison
or to set the trap which will end the destroyer’s days, and
in one or both of these methods ceaseless war is waged
against this bird by nearly every gamekeeper throughout
these kingdoms, with the result, as has been stated, of
almost extirpating it in many districts. Yet its numbers
are still considerable in the wilder and least frequented parts
of England, and the roving habits of the young to some
extent supply incomers to replace those that suffer a malefactor’s
death. There can be no doubt but that, were persecution
abated, the Pie would speedily become as common as
it once was, for it is very prolific and, since little comes
amiss to its omnivorous appetite, food would generally be
plentiful. There also is reason to think that its restoration
to its former abundance might be a decided gain to the agriculturist,
since slugs, snails, insects and worms form, out of
all proportion to anything else, the greater part of its diet,
* Not that there is any doubt of the mode of attack whenever the Pie assails
an animal sufficiently large to be troublesome if possessed of sight, and even one
no bigger than a Redwing may be thus treated (Zool. p. 2779).
for its consumption of grain or fruit is trifling,* and it is
also a great destroyer of mice and rats—a fact of which the
gamekeeper is seldom mindful though never forgetting its
assaults on leverets and rabbits.
Partial as it is to cultivated and wooded districts, the Pie
is not by any means a strictly woodland-bird, and it is well
content with an open country if a sufficiency of bushes or
trees standing apart is there to be found; for, its flight
being laboured and comparatively weak, it seldom goes willingly
far from a place of shelter.! It is an exceedingly.
* I t is said also to be of service in ridding cattle of maggots embedded in their
hide, and sheep it will free from liee.
•)* Hunting this bird to death by a process in which Falcons are trained to
take part—and hence called “ Magpie-hawking ”—is a pursuit followed by some
persons with great pleasure. However much excitement may attend it, to the
Editor it appears nearly the utmost degradation of a noble sport. There is no
gallant contest of speed and power. Bird is not matched against bird in open
flight, for on the wing a Pie has i\ot a chance against a Falcon. The quarry s
only resource lies in his cunning and sagacity, which are met by driving him
from one refuge after another until none be left, when he becomes an easy victim
to the clutch of the Falcon (the most merciful perhaps of his persecutors) and his
terror and fatigue are at once ended. This may seem too strong a condemnation,
but that the reader may judge for himself, Sebright s description, to the trath-
fulness of which the Editor can bear witness, is added : A down or common,
where low trees or thorn bushes are dispersed at the distance of from thirty to
fifty yards apart, is the place best calculated for this diversion. When a magpie
is seen at a distance, a hawk is immediately to be cast off. The magpie will
take refuge in a bush the moment that he sees the falcon, and will remain there
until the falconer arrives, with the hawk waiting on in the air. The magpie is
to be driven from his retreat, and the hawk, if at a good pitch, will stoop at
him as he passes to another bush, from whence he is to be driven in the same way,
another hawk having been previously cast off, so that one or the other may always
be so situated as to attack him to advantage. The second hawk is necessary,
for the magpie shifts with great cunning and dexterity to avoid the stoop ; and
when hard pressed, owing to the bushes being rather far apart, will pass under
the bellies of the horses, flutter along a cart rut, and avail himself of every little
inequality of the ground in order to escape. Four or five assistants, besides the
falconer, (who should attend solely to his hawks) are required for this sport.
They should be well mounted, and provided with whips ; for the magpie cannot
be driven from a bush by a stick; but the crack of a whip will force him to leave
it, even when he is so tired as hardly to be able to fly. Nothing can be more
animating than this sport: it is, in my opinion, far superior to every other kind
of hawking. The object of the chace is fully a match for its pursuers—a requisite
absolutely necessary to give an interest to any sport of this kind; and it has the
advantage of giving full employment to the company, which is not the case m