228 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE COMMON JAY. 

 (Garrulus ylandarius.) 



Plate 55, Fig. 1. 



The Jay is still found more or less commonly in all the wooded 

 parts of England, and in some districts appears even to he in- 

 creasing in numbers ; but in Scotland it has of late years become 

 much rarer. It is a resident bird throughout Europe except in 

 the south-east. In Scandinavia it is found as far north as the 

 Arctic circle ; in Russia up to lat. 63°, ranging eastwards to the 

 valley of the Volga. 



In form the Jay's nest is cup-shaped, deep, and very bulky. 

 It is generally very neatly made, and is built on the same model 

 as the nests of the Bullfinch, the Hawfinch, and the Sparrow 

 Hawk. The coarsest twigs are selected for the foundation ; as 

 the construction of the nest proceeds, finer and finer twigs are 

 chosen ; and, finally, the lining is composed of roots, which often 

 project above the outside structure. 



The eggs are laid by the latter end of April, more frequently in 

 the first or second week of May, and are from five to seven in 

 number. They are bluish-green in ground-colour, usually evenly 

 and thickly speckled over the whole surface with olive-brown, 

 and sometimes marked with a few streaks of rich brown. Some 

 specimens are not so closely marked and have a greener appear- 

 ance, as more of the ground-colour is visible ; whilst others have 

 the greater part of the spots collected in an indistinct zone round 

 the egg. They vary in length from 1*35 to 1'2 inch, and in 

 breadth from TO to 0"85 inch. 



THE CHOUGH. 



(PyrrJwcorax graculus.) * 



Plate 55, Fig. 2. 



Formerly the Chough bred in many inland localities in England; 

 but now it is only known to frequent a few favoured spots on the 

 coast. It is essentially a bird of the rocks, and is in no part of 

 its range a migratory species. In the British Islands it finds suit- 

 able haunts on the coast ; but on the Continent it breeds almost 

 exclusively on the mountains. 



* Graculus graculus — Sharpe, Handb., I., p. 22. 



