This bird, which is found in Europe, and also in the plains east of the
Rocky Mountains, is remarkable alike for its loquacity and its
disposition to theft--a trait of character which belongs to several
birds of the same genus. Lady Morgan furnishes us with the following
anecdote:--
"A noble lady of Florence resided in a house which still stands
opposite the lofty Doric column which was raised to commemorate the
defeat of Pietro Strozzi, and the taking of Sienna, by the tyrannic
conqueror of both, Cosmo the First. She lost a valuable pearl necklace,
and one of her waiting-women, a very young girl, was accused of the
theft. Having solemnly denied the fact, she was put to the torture,
which was then practised at Florence. Unable to support its terrible
infliction, she acknowledged that 'she was guilty,' and, without
further trial, was hung. Shortly after, Florence was visited by a
tremendous storm; a thunderbolt fell on the figure of Justice, and
split the scales, one of which fell to the earth, and with it fell the
ruins of a magpie's nest, containing the pearl necklace. Those scales
are still the haunts of birds, and I never saw them hovering round
them, without thinking of those 'good old times,' when innocent women
could be first tortured, and then hung, on suspicion."
We are informed by Plutarch of a magpie, belonging to a barber at Rome,
which could imitate every word it heard uttered. It happened one day
that some trumpets were sounded before the shop door, and for some days
afterwards the magpie was quite mute, and appeared pensive and
melancholy. This change in its manners greatly surprised all who knew
it, and it was supposed that the sound of the trumpets had so
completely stunned the poor bird, that it was deprived of both voice
and hearing. It soon appeared, however, that this was not the case; for
Plutarch says, the bird had been all the while occupied in profound
meditation, studying how to imitate the sound of the trumpets, which
had made a deep impression on him; and at last, to the astonishment of
all its friends, it broke its long silence by a very perfect imitation
of the flourish of the trumpets it had heard; observing with great
accuracy all the repetitions, stops, and changes. But this turned out
an unfavorable lesson, for the magpie forgot every thing else, and
never afterwards attempted another imitation but that of the trumpets.