A last word (for the time being, anyway) about that bird which so many people love to hate, that bird which is so often blamed for the slaughter carried out by cats. To wit, the magpie. Not that it doesn't sometimes raid nests for eggs and scaldies. But it feeds chiefly, say the books, on beetle and fly grubs, caterpillars, worms, grains and fruits, nuts, small mammals too. And it is a beautiful bird up close. From a distance you just see black and white, but on nearer inspection, especially in bright light, there are sheens of green and bronze, purple and blue.
Anyway, apart from garden predatory moves, they are damned in places where shooting is a serious business. And business is the word. The English Field for April gives a lot of space to the best method of dispatching these birds. It is done via a Danish invention: the Larsen Trap, often used for other birds of its kind. The theory is that at breeding time, magpies will defend their territory against invaders, even of their own kind. So the trap, like a small hen run, is baited with a magpie, squawking and hopping from perch to perch.
The magpies who resent the invader, swoop down, the story is, land on a spring loaded trapdoor in the device, and are immediately caught, or incarcerated as the Field has it. And maybe the bird's mate will join in, to be caught in the second compartment. The Field says that the trap is not confined to the shooting world, their use even being sanctioned by the RSPB - the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, though in this case it is set to catch hooded crows at one reserve to help the dwindling capercailie population survive.
An awkward question for some people is: how, when you catch the magpie, do you get rid of him/her? With a hammer, in one case. But then the article quotes the Game Conservancy Trust's instructions or suggestions: "Trap the bird gently against the floor, roof or side of the trap, sliding your first and second fingers round its neck, so that they meet at the fingertips. If you are right handed, hold the bird in your left hand as above. With your right hand grip the legs . . ." After that, will some hit it with a brick. Look, you can read all about it in the April edition of the magazine.
Remember, too, you have to capture your decoy magpie, and you'll need to feed and water it all the time. And eventually dispose of it. These traps can cost from £40 to £60.
And in this carnivorous Lent, you might note that in the May issue of the same magazine you are promised an article on how to turn rooks and squirrels into May Day delicacies. Nobody, apparently, eats magpies.