JAY 



595 



and the bases of the secondaries (which are white), and the tail- 

 feathers, except at their bases, where they tend to bluish grey and 

 show slight barring, are black ; the rest of the upper-parts is russet- 

 fawn, or puce-coloured, while the lower surface is buff. In the adult 

 the eyes are of a blue very similar to that of the wing-patch, but in 

 young birds are brown, this being the only colour-difference between 

 the latter and their parents. 



Associating in pairs, the jay, unlike the jackdaw, appears to be 

 diminishing in numbers in England, and perhaps in the British Islands 

 generally, owing to the persecu- 

 tion to which it is subjected at 

 the hands of gamekeepers. That 

 such persecution is not unde- 

 served will be apparent to all 

 who are acquainted with the 

 egg-stealing propensities of this 

 bird and its fondness for young 

 partridges and pheasants, to say 

 nothing of the nestlings of other 

 species. In Scandinavia the jay 

 ranges as far north as the Arctic 

 Circle, but in the valley of the 

 Volga its limits in this direction 

 are a few degrees less. Some- 

 where to the east of that river it 

 is replaced by an allied species, 

 and it does not extend into 

 north Africa or south-eastern •''^^" 



Europe. In Great Britain the species is to be met with in most districts, 

 where it is resident throughout the year, although it is stated that a 

 certain number of jays migrate towards the east coast of England, while 

 others in certain seasons join them from abroad. In Scotland jays are 

 believed to be extending their northern range in some districts, such 

 as Inverness-shire, while in Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire their numbers 

 have largely diminished. From Shetland and the Outer Hebrides 

 the species, except for an occasional straggler, is absent. In Ireland 

 jays are now found only in the south-eastern districts forming the 

 basins of the rivers Suir, Nore,' and Barrow, if we except a few stragglers 

 which wander from their regular habitat to the adjacent counties. 



Persecution has probably taught tho. jay, which is now one of the 

 most difficult of birds to approach, a lesson, although, except during 



