MAGPIE.
PICA CAUDATA, Fleming.
Pica caudata, Fleming, Hist. Brit. Animals, p. 87 (1828);
Hewitson, i. p. 234.
Corvus pica, Linn, S. N. i. p. 157 (1766); Naum. ii. p. 101.
Corvus rusticus, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 38.
Pica melanolenca, Macg. i. p. 562.
Pica rustica, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 312; Dresser, iv. p. 509.
Pie, Pie ordinaire, French; Elster, German; Picaza,
Urraca, Marica, Pega, Spanish.
This bird is too well known, and has been too often
treated of by friends and foes, to need any detailed
remarks from me. Gamekeepers, with good reason,
wage war to the death against “ Mag,” and in some
parts of England the bird has become scarce, whilst in
unpreserved districts it is still abundant, and in many
parts of Ireland is decidedly the typical bird of the
country. Apart from its misdeeds as a poacher, the
Magpie, though useful in ridding cattle of the grubs
generally known as “ bots,” frequently in so doing
causes hideous sores in the backs of the afflicted beasts;
and, averse as I am to the extermination of any bird,
especially to that of such a very beautiful and amusing
species as the present, I must confess that, on the
whole, I look upon the Magpie as a decided “ detrimental,”
whose increase should be carefully kept within
reasonable limits.
Pica caudata, Fleming.