See Also: magpie(dictionary)
magpie(dictionary)
magpie(encyclopedia)
magpie(medicine)
birch(2)(dictionary)
birch(1)(dictionary)
birch(encyclopedia)
birch tar(medicine)
birch tar oil(medicine)
Birch(medicine)

birch 1, noun (oh) and magpie (sh)


birch 1, noun (oh)



[Language: Old English; Origin: birce, beorc]
[U and C] a tree with smooth bark (=outer covering) and thin branches, or the wood from this tree
the birch
BrE the practice of hitting people with birch sticks as an official punishment
-see also silver birch

magpie (sh)




Any of several genera of long-tailed songbirds of the crow family (Corvidae).

The black-billed magpie (Pica pica) is 18 in. (45 cm) long and strikingly pied (black-and-white), with an iridescent blue-green tail. It is found in North Africa, across Eurasia, and in western North America. A bird of farmlands and tree-studded open country, it eats insects, seeds, small vertebrates, the eggs and young of Other birds, and fresh carrion. It makes a large, round nest of twigs cemented with mud, and is known for hoarding small, bright objects. Other species (in the genera Cyanopica, Cissa, and Urocissa) include the brilliant blue or green magpies of Asia.