Multiplying Harpies
The comparative absence of gamekeepers is being deplored in unexpected quarters. They greatly reduced the numbers of thp birds of prey ; and one of the most active of these, the magpie, has multiplied excessively, according to reports from a number of districts. One district is in Bedfordshire, where they have been seen in flocks, and according to that specialist in fruit, Mi.. Raymond Bush, they devour crops. of many sorts, eggs and young chickens. The two sorts of birds that I have myself seen attacking and carrying off young chickens are carrion-crow and magpie ; and there is no doubt at all that both are more numerous than the countryman desires. As to the crows, when a pair nested in Kensington Gardens, ducklings were killed by the score. Unlike the
magpie, the crow becomes an urban and suburban resident. ' '
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