188                        MAGPIE.
scapulars, lower part of the breast and belly, white; thighs and
vent black; tail long, the two exterior feathers scarcely half the
length of the longest, the others increasing to the two middle
ones, which taper towards their extremities. The colour of this
part of the plumage is very splendid, being glossy green, dashed
with blue and bright purple; this last colour bounds the green;
nostrils covered with a thick tuft of recumbent hairs, as are also
the sides of the mouth; bill, legs and feet, glossy black. The
female differs only in the less brilliancy of her plumage.