Scolding

In the little street on our way back from the allotment we heard a lot of loud carking from some magpies; nothing unusual in that, but it seemed particularly loud and insistent. I looked up and saw, in an ornamental cherry tree, a cat heading dangerously far out along one of the branches in pursuit of a magpie who was giving it.....dog's abuse, I suppose might be the appropriate term. There was another magpie higher up in the tree, also abusing. The cat eventually realised that it had to turn back and almost fell off, which entailed a bit of comedy acrobatics. (I don't think the cat was amused.) The magpies kept up the abuse and the cat slunk down the tree somewhat, until we were joined by a passer-by whose dog took a great interest in the kerfuffle. We left whilst the cat was still marooned between the devil of a magpie and the deep blue sea of a big friendly dog.