The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 41, September 25, 2005, Article 26

MORE ON THE MAGPIE THEORY OF COIN DISPERSION

Ron Abler writes: "I have two examples of larcenous ravens
(or maybe magpies, since I don't know the difference). I
went to high school in Santa Barbara, and on Sundays I would
give public tours of Old Mission Santa Barbara. There was a
raven (okay, a large black bird, and I don't remember the
color of its beak) that lived in the bell tower. The bird was well
known for stealing bright objects, including jewelry, by
dive-bombing the hapless wearer and zooming right back to the
tower. I personally retrieved items from the tower on three
occasions, and heard of many more.

My wife had a pet raven (or magpie) that had fallen from the
nest and became domesticated during the recovery period.
That bird went after anything and everything shiny, including
the removable tabs from the old-style beer cans. Once, the
bird terrified the postman by diving after the shiny pen in his
shirt pocket!

I know this "evidence" is only anecdotal, but I have strong
doubts about the validity of the claims that nothing shiny was
ever found in "hundreds" of nests. (Maybe it was a particularly
unenterprising species of raven/magpie?) Personally, I favor
Ralf's magpie story for the provenance of his gold coin.
That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!"

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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