BLUE-WINGED JAY. 571> 



times birds. The principal substances which I have found 

 in its stomach in winter were acorns, mixed w^th fragments 

 of quartz. It is scarcely gregarious, although for some weeks 

 the members of a family keep together, in w^hich case it is 

 almost impossible to procure one of them, as they flit before 

 you in the woods, taking care to keep beyond reach of a 

 shot, and uttering at intervals their ordinary harsh scream. 

 The flight of the Jay in an open place is somewhat similar to 

 that of the Magpie or Missel Thrush, being direct, and per- 

 formed by quick beats, with short cessations at intervals. It 

 glides through the woods and thickets with great ease and 

 dexterity, flits along the hedges, and rarely approaches the 

 habitations of man, except in search of food for its young, its 

 affectionate concern for which will induce it to brave dangers 

 from which on ordinary occasions it would shrink. 



" Its common notes,*" ^lontagu says, " are various but 

 harsh ;" my own observation goes no farther than to enable 

 me to assent to the statement, and therefore I quote what he 

 states in continuance : — " It will some time in the spring utter 

 a sort of song in a soft and pleasing manner, but so low as not 

 to be heard at any distance ; and at intervals introduce the 

 bleating of a lamb, mewing of a cat, the note of a kite or buz- 

 zard, hooting of an owl, and even the neighing of a horse. 

 These imitations are so exact, even in a natural wild state, 

 that we have frequently been deceived.'' 



" Its nest," according to the same generally very accurate 

 authority, " is commonly built in high coppice wood or hedges, 

 and sometimes against the side of a scrubby tree. It is formfed 

 of sticks, lined with fibrous roots, and the bird lays five or six 

 eggs of a light brow^n colour, not very unlike those of the Part- 

 ridge, but smaller, and obscurely marked with a darker shade 

 of brown." Professor Rennie has given a long straggling de- 

 scription of it, flimsy and ill put together like itself; whereupon 

 Mr. Waterton remarks that the nests " are much more com- 

 pact, and better put together, than those which naturalists have 

 hitherto described. The nest of the Jay is never seen near the 

 tops of trees, like those of the Magpie and Crow. He who 

 feels inclined to study the nidification of this bird must search 



r p 2 



