Magpies

Ted Hughes's daughter was writing in a supplement about a pet magpie she had. Hold on, I thought, a magpie that was a pet! I don't think the magpies that nest in the trees at the bottom of our garden would make very good pets. They are the most vicious of birds. There used to be scores of thrushes there in the bushes underneath the trees, now there are none. And, on the same topic of how magpies drive other smaller birds away (or kill them off), I used to go frequently to an adult education college where there were, about 20 years ago, thousands of twittering small birds - now there are hardly any. No dawn chorus, just the chattering of magpies.
But I do have a certain admiration for magpies; like cats they seem to "walk alone", live their own lives regardless of others, don't give a damn for any other creatures.
They seem fearless. At the bottom of our garden about 15 years back there were some wild cats. Even the woman who lives next door would not go near them and she is a cat lover whom cats take to always. Not these; they lived their own lives breeding kittens galore.
One day I saw one of these wild cats stalk a magpie. It shuffled up near the magpie and the magpie acted as if it hadn't seen him (her, rather, the cat was a tortoisehell and they are always female); but the magpie had seen her for it suddenly opened its wings and fluttered them aggressively. Then it strutted about a while boastfully I felt. The cat shuffled away slowly until the magpie chased after her making her bolt for cover among the bushes with her family.
The Hughes daughter's magpie wasn't with her for long; and when it left, it never came back.