98 BIRDS AND MAN 



going to a new or a different spot I find that the 

 birds utter different sounds. Again, the places 

 where jays assemble in numbers are very few and 

 far between. It is true, as an observant game- 

 keeper once said to me, that if there are as many 

 as half a dozen to a dozen jays in any wood they 

 will contrive to hold a meeting ; but when the 

 birds are few and much persecuted, it is difficult to 

 see and hear them at such times, and when seen and 

 heard, no adequate idea is formed of the beauty 

 of their displays, and the power and variety of 

 their language, as witnessed in localities where 

 they are numerous, and fear of the keeper's gun 

 has not damped their mad, jubilant spirits. 



In genial weather the jays' assembly may be 

 held at any hour, but is most frequently seen dur- 

 ing the early part of the day : on a fine warm 

 morning in March and April one can always count 

 on witnessing an assembly, or at all events of hear- 

 ing the birds, in any wood where they are fairly 

 common and not very shy. They are so voci- 

 ferous and so conspicuous to the eye during these 

 social intervals, and at the same time so carried 

 away by excitement, that it is not only easy to 

 find and see them, but possible at times to observe 

 them very closely. 



