h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Magpies - A1084475
Author: Gnomon - U151503

Does these read well, or is it too disconnected?

I like it. My mum was on Magpie once. Met Jenny Hanley. I got a badge.

On 1 April this year, Radio 4 did a 'live broadcast' from somewhere in Scotland where they were trying to catch magpies with a view to extermination of the Magpie population. However this is contrary to RSPB policy ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1396652.stm

(Nice picture there to which to link!)

Good luck with this. Looking forward to a blobbed magpie.

Trout

Looks well up to your usual high standard, althougb 'La Gazza Landra' sounds like it should be about football.

A tiny typo: 'full grown' should be either 'full-grown' or 'fully grown', otherwise it's just a magpie that's had enough to eat.

I reckon your Headers probably need a bit more capitalisation as well, although I am prone to over-capitalising things, so am probably not a very good authority on that.

Otherwise, I don't think it's too disconnected. A lot of headers just makes for easier reading, to my mind.

B

Triffic


Scout

Thanks B, I've corrected that typo and converted the headers to capitals. I've also added a few links to other edited entries.

Better take out the "in Scotland" bit from the link ... the link doesn't correspond with the Radio 4 story I heard on April 1.

Trout

Hi Gnomon

Is good.

The main locus of dislike of magpies in Britain is gamekeepers. Magpies are quite partial to taking the eggs and chicks of partridge and pheasant, so gamekeepers are keen to get rid of them. Apart from that they have thrived in Britain, and I have magpies and jays in my garden. The magpies enjoy taking a bath on hot days, from which they emerge looking really bedraggled and comical, in contrast to their normal smart black-tie appearance. They'll dry themselves out a bit on the patio if there's no-one there.

Magpies do quite habitually go about alone as well as in pairs. The rhyme is just silly. They can also congregate in very large groups of up to 100 or so, especially in winter, when they cavort around and flash their white plumage at each other. Just why they do this is not really understood - theories of courtship displays don't really hold good, since many of them have already paired off before these meetings start. But it might help unattached birds to find mates.

Nests are built by both sexes. The nest is domed (to protect it from predators) and made of twigs, usually with a lining of mud covered with small roots. The eggs are light green, speckled with greyish brown, about 4-7 per clutch and incubated by the female only. The chicks are fed by both parents, however, and remain in the nest for about a month.

Although they do not use their feet to catch their food, they can certainly use them to hold it in position while they break it up or peck at it. They will sometimes take frogs and snails.



The opera, by the way, which was an immediate huge success, is based on a true story. A French servant-girl (it's based on a French play - La pie voleuse - by d'Aubigny and Caigniez) is accused of theft, tried, found guilty, and executed. The townsfolk later discover that the thief was a magpie and they institute an annual Mass, called the Mass of the magpie, to pray for the servant-girl. It's a tragicomedy that somehow manages a happy ending for nearly everyone!

Thanks for that, Bels! I've included some details from your posting into the Entry.

Nice entry. But magpies aren't just black and white: get up close to one and you'll see it's green and blue as well.


FM
Scout

Is that the magpie? Or the oil on its feathers?

Trout

Re-read the first paragraph. It mentions the green and blue.

Poss worth mentioning is that the plumage of both sexes is similar, so you'd need to look *much* more closely to determine the sex.

There are yellow-billed magpies in California.

Ah.... Must have overlooked that.

I've added a note about males and females looking identical, and also about the scruffy look of juveniles.

Very nice entry!

Sorry I've nothing more constructive to say.

- X

All bases seem covered as the expression appears to be. Quite a nice piece on quite an interesting (yet seemingly cleptomanial) bird.
Well done!
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