594 



PERCHING BIRDS 



absent from many districts apparently well suited to its habits. In the 

 Orkne)'s a few pairs have been long known to breed, but it is only 

 recently that the species has taken to nest in small numbers in the 

 Outer Hebrides in the neighbourhood of Stornoway. To Shetland, 

 however, it appears to be only a straggler. In Ireland jackdaws are 



stated to be on the increase ; but 

 although breeding in most of the 

 counties of the mainland, the)- do 

 not as a rule nest on the islands 

 of the west coast. 



As regards general habits, jack- 

 daws are very similar to rooks, with 

 the flocks of which they frequently 

 associate. Their favourite nesting- 

 places are, however, towers or other 

 tall buildings, or cliffs near the sea ; 

 but instances are on record of a con- 

 siderable number building in com- 

 pany in tall trees. The nest is of 

 the usual crow-type, although much 

 sTuD.oi " less neatly built than that of the 



j.u Ki.Aw. rook. Two instances — one at Eton, 



and the other at Hillington, in Nor- 

 folk- — of the nest being built up to a height of ten feet or more in 

 order to reach a window or other aperture, are on record. The number 

 of eggs in a clutch, as in the family generally, ranges from three to six. 

 White jackdaws are by no means very uncommon — much less rare 

 than either white rooks or white crows. 



Jay 



(Garrulus 

 glandarius). 



The handsome but noisy jay is the only British 

 representative of a genus as widely distributed as 

 Corvus, and distinguished by the shorter wings and 



totally different type of colouring of its members. 

 As regards the British species, the brilliant patch of bright ultramarine 

 blue, barred with black and white, on the wings, renders it recognisable 

 at the first glance. Practically, this wing-bar is a sufficient diagnosis 

 for the purposes of the present work, but the following additional 

 particulars may be given, as the blue patch is common to all the Old 

 World jays. The crown, then, of the short-crested head is white 

 striped with black ; the loins are white ; a patch on each cheek, the 

 wing-quills, with the exception of the outer margins of the primaries 



