California Horned Lark
474e. Otocoris alpestris actia. 8 inches.
Similar, but back deeper brown. Southern and Lower California.
Ruddy Horned Lark
474f. Otocoris alpestris rubea. 8 inches.
The same as above, but still more rufous. Central California.
Family Corvidæ — Crows, Jays
American Magpie
475. Pica pica hudsonia. 20 inches.
Like the “Blue Jays,” the Magpies are great talkers, and are usually found in colonies where they can carry on conversation in their own way with each other. They are a large handsome bird, with pure white under parts and wing coverts, and the upper parts, head, tail and breast are a bronzy black, with iridescent changes. Tail very long, and graduated. They are very bold birds, inquisitive, and great thieves. Their food consists of small rodents, a large variety of insect life, and the eggs and young of small birds.
Nest.—Is a bulky affair, placed at almost any elevation, composed of sticks and small twigs, with an opening on the side; the inside of the nest is lined with finer materials, grass and plant fiber. Four to eight grayish white eggs, spotted with brown and drab (1.25 ×.90).