Passeres 89 



A wary and subtle bird is the .Jay {Garruhis glan- 

 darius), as much admired for its beauty as hated by 

 gamekeepers for its destructive tendencies. Fawn- 

 colour, black and white are mingled in its plumage in 

 due proportion, while a large crest and a mottled 

 blue wing-patch enhance its attractiveness. The food 

 consists of worms and insects, acorns, nuts, and 

 other fruits, and unfortunately also of the eggs and 

 young of birds ; the flight is heavy and the reiterated 

 notes harsh and screaming. The nest, sometimes built 

 in the fork of a tree, but ordinarily in thick bushy 

 copsewood, is of twigs, grass and roots, while the four 

 or five greenish eggs are closely freckled Avith olive and 

 occasionally exhibit a black scrawl. Owing to perse- 

 cution the Jay is local with us and to the northward 

 only reaches Inverness-shire ; the typical form, more- 

 over, is now held to differ from the British, which is 

 again a close ally of other European, Asiatic, and north 

 African species. 



Not many years ago the pretty long-tailed black 

 and white Magpie {Pica pica) was often seen in most of 

 our counties, and was well known for its cunning ways 

 and jarring notes. Now, how^ever, the balance ot 

 nature has been so much disturbed by game-preservers 

 that the bird is becoming rare, except where the pre- 

 servation is incomplete. No doubt its fate is more or 

 less merited, as it is destructive to young birds and 

 eggs, but it used to be a great feature in the landscape, 

 being continually seen moving with strong but low 

 flight from one shelter to another, or in spring busy 

 round its wonderful nest. This is a great roundish 

 mass of sticks lined with clay and then with roots, 

 while the top or roof is comparatively thin and flat, 



