190 Habits of the Jay. 



be observed clinging to the sides of these in quest of un- 

 covered pods ; and thus it acquires part of its scanty pro- 

 vender, " till vernal suns and showers" have dissolved the 

 accumulated snow, and cleared its former haunts. To these 

 it returns once more, and consumes myriads of insects in 

 comparative safety. But when the fatal season of peas and 

 ripe cherries arrives, scarcely any thing short of death can 

 deter this unfortunate bird from participating in the proffered 

 feast. The gardener, in discharging his gun at it, is sure to 

 make bad worse by his officious interference; for, in his 

 eagerness to kill the poor bird, he never once reflects that the 

 contents of his piece do ten times more harm to the fruit 

 and to the tender shoots of the cherry tree, than the dreaded 

 presence of half a dozen jays, all with empty stomachs. 



Towards the end of April, when nature smiles around, 

 and the woods begin to expand their opening bloom, he who 

 loves to wander through them, in quest of ornithological ad- 

 ventures, will sometimes hear a profusion of imitative tones 

 not far from the place where he is straying, now hoarse and 

 sonorous, now lowered and subdued, and composed of modu- 

 lations almost approaching to those of song : they are pro- 

 duced by ten or a dozen sprightly jays, assembled in merry 

 mimicry and glee, ere they depart in pairs to select a place for 

 approaching incubation. This is the only period of the year 

 in which the jay shows a disposition to be social ; for, at other 

 times, it is a wandering solitary bird, and does not allow its 

 young to associate with it, after they have arrived at a state 

 to be able to provide for themselves. Here, where the jay is 

 encouraged and protected, this part of its economy may be 

 easily verified. 



This bird would probably not be noticed as having any- 

 thing remarkable either in shape or in plumage, were it not 

 for the loveliness of its bastard wing and greater covert 

 feathers. The blue, the black, and the white in them are so 

 exquisitely blended, that the eye is never tired with gazing 

 on the colours. Nothing can possibly be conceived more 

 charming. No other known bird in the creation possesses 

 such a rich exhibition of colouring in the bastard wing and 

 greater coverts. It belongs exclusively to this one species of 

 bird : it is the indubitable and never-failing mark of the jay 

 of Europe ; a bird which will ever have a friend in me, not- 

 withstanding its acknowledged depredations in gardens and in 

 orchards. Its pilferings are of short duration : they are too 

 trivial to cause uneasiness, and of far too light a nature to 

 demand the forfeiture of life. 



Walton Hall, Yorkshire, Feb. 21. 1836. 



