104 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



JAY. 



Case 108. 



This sprightly hircl is fast disappearing from our woods 

 and thickets. An egg; being a bait it can never resist, 

 it speedily falls a victim to the watchful gamekeeper. 



Many writers lament the scarcity of this and 

 numerous other handsome though destructive birds, 

 forgetting that the increase of their favourites signifies 

 a corresponding diminution of all species of game. 



The specimens in the case were shot near Plumpton, 

 in Sussex, in Februarj^ 1870. 



MAGPIE. 



Case 100. 



Though becoming scarcer every year, like the Jay, the 

 Magpie is still sufficiently common to be Avell known 

 in most parts of the British islands. 



During winter it occasionally joins in large flocks. 

 I have more than once met with as many as thirty or 

 forty in company in the neighbourhood of Doncaster, 

 in Yorkshire. 



It is generally a shy, wary bird, always appearing 

 conscious that its bad deeds will gain it but little 

 favour in the sight of man. 



I have, however, in some districts in the north, and 

 again in the west, found it remarkably confiding, even 

 nesting in trees within a few yards of a dwelling. 



The specimens in the case were shot on the downs 

 in the neighbourhood of Brighton, in the spring of 

 1872. 



