THE BLUE JAY 



HE is not a jay at all ; but the misnomer is 

 perhaps a pardonable one, for in more 

 respects than one the bird resembles the 

 true jays, and I am told that the European 

 roller {Coracias garrula\ a near relative of the Indian 

 blue jay, is known in parts of Germany as the Birch 

 Jay. American visitors to India, however, make no 

 such mistake. You never hear one of them call the 

 roller a jay. They dub him the Surprise Bird, a name 

 which admirably suits both him and the paddy bird, for 

 when either takes to its wings a startling transformation 

 occurs. The dingy heron is suddenly metamorphosed 

 into a beautiful milk-white bird, while the untidy 

 nondescript-coloured roller is transfigured into a gor- 

 geous harmony of light and dark blue, into a bird 

 flying the Oxford and Cambridge colours, putting 

 one in mind of Putney on Boat-race Day. 



Beauty is often a curse to its possessor ; it certainly 

 is in the case of the Indian roller. This bird has a wide 

 distribution. It is, or should be, found all over India ; 

 but, alas ! it is not. It is a significant fact that the bird 

 is not common in the Presidency towns. 



" Eha " does not even mention the roller in " The 



