MAGPIE (variant of inagotpic, from Nag, Magot, abbreviation of Margaret + pie, OE., Fr. pie, from Lat. pica, magpie, either from pingere, to paint, in allusion to its spotted hue, or Con nected with spicere, to spy, and ultimately with provincial Eng. speight, woodpecker). Somewhat intermediate between jays and crows and closely related to both is the genus Pica, the species of which are known, wherever English is spoken, as magpies. In size and -coloration magpies re semble small crows, while in ninny other re speets they are more like the jays. Their most prominent external character is the long, gradu ated tail, which is sometimes longer than head and body together, and the outer feathers of which are scarcely half the length of the middle pair. The best-known species of the genus is the common magpie of Europe (Pica vice), of which a very closely allied form, known as the black billed magpie (variety Hiadsonica), is abundant in Western North America, except California, ranging as far east as :Manitoba and Minnesota, and northward to the North Saskatchewan River. (See Plate of JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC.) This bird is rather more than 15 inches long and about 2 feet across the extended wings. The color is lustrous black with green, violet, and purple, sometimes even golden iridescence. The lower parts, a patch on each shoulder, and portions of the wings are white. The bill and feet are black. A very similar species (Pica. Nuttalli) is found in California, but is easily distinguished by the bright yellow bill and naked space about the eye. Magpies generally go in pairs and are remarkable for their slyness and cunning in es caping observation. When in small flocks, they are bolder and more noisy. The cry is loud, harsh, and unmusical, but when the bird is alone it is usually silent. It is very clever in hunting and securing its food, which consists of almost anything eatable, though, like the jays, it is especially fond of eggs and young birds.
On this account magpies are constantly hunted and killed by gamekeepers; but in many places these birds are encouraged to come about houses because of their bright, saucy habits, and hand some plumage.
The nest of the magpie is a most remarkable structure, nearly as large as a bushel basket, placed in thick shrubbery. The top and outside is made up of interwoven thorny branches, within which is the nest proper, composed of earth and lined with fibres and grass. There is an opening on each side so that the long tail rests in the one at which the bird enters, while it can when neces sary escape at the other without turning. The eggs are from five to nine in number, pale drab, dotted, dashed, and blotched with purplish brown. The magpie is easily tamed and soon becomes very familiar and may sometimes be taught to articulate a few words, but, like the crow, it is a troublesome pet, for it is a sneak thief of the same stamp. In the Old World the common magpie occurs in Siberia as well as in most parts of Europe, and there are several other Asiatic members of the genus. The so-called 'blue mag pies' are natives of the Old World and belong to the genus Cyanopolius, but they are quite as much jays as magpies. There are only two species, which are very similar, though one is confined to the Spanish Peninsula,while the other occurs in Eastern Asia and Japan. The name `blue magpie' is also given sometimes to the very long-tailed jays of the genera Calocitta and Uroeissa, the former a Central American, the latter an Oriental group. Various birds of pied plumage not magpies at all are sometimes called so, as the mottled owl, a 'magpie robin,' magpie shrike,' etc.
Consult: Cones, Birds of the Northwest (Wash ington, 1874), and the authorities there cited; Keyser, Birds of the Rockies (Chicago, 1902).