32 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The framework of the sticks is cemented with earth and clay, 

 and a lining of the same material is covered with fine roots ; 

 above is a stout though loosely built dome of prickly branches 

 with one well-concealed entrance. When the leaves fall these 

 huge nests are plainly visible. Where trees are scarce, and 

 even in well-wooded country, nests are at times built in bushes 

 and hedgerows ; I have seen a nest in an old untrimmed hedge 

 with apparently suitable trees within a few yards. The eggs, 

 small for the size of the bird, number from five to eight, and so 

 many as ten are recorded ; they show much variation in ground 

 and marking, but a usual type is blue-green with close specks 

 and spots of brown and grey ^ Plate 1 5). They are laid in April, 

 and only one brood is reared unless disaster overtakes the first 

 clutch. 



The head, neck and breast of the Pie are glossy black with 

 metaUic green and violet sheen ; the belly and scapulars are 

 pure white ; the wings are black glossed with green, and the 

 primaries have white inner webs, conspicuous when the wing is 

 open. The graduated tail is black, shot with bronze-green and 

 other iridescent colours. The legs and bill are black ; the 

 irides brown. 



The young resemble the parents, but are at first without much 

 of the gloss on the sooty plumage. The male is slightly larger 

 than the female. Length, about 18 ins. Wing, 7*5 ins. Tail, 

 8-10 ins. Tarsus, 1*85 ins. 



Jay. Garruliis glandarius (Linn.). 



The Palcearctic genus Garruhis has one European species, 

 now split into many sub-species, three of which occur in 

 Britain, two as insular races and one as a migrant. The 

 British jay, Garruhis glandarius rufitergum Hartert (Plate 9), 

 is resident in England, Wales and Scotland, though very rare 

 in the north ; the Irish Jay, G. g. hibernicus Witherby and 



