I have rarely seen so many magpies around as now. They are the rats of the avian world and, like rats, they unquestionably harm our ecology. So keen is their survival instinct that even if we all went out and shot every one we could find, for weeks on end, there would still be millions of the blighters. They are not, in my view, preferable to woodpeckers, tits, finches and other quite rightly protected species. So, for the good of our wildlife, kill a magpie or six today: and feel free to take a jay or a crow with you while you are at it. The bunny-huggers will hate you, but our beautiful birds will be much in your debt.