156 The Jay 



brighter than the colouring of its back, and this colouring becomes permanent. 

 I only became aware of the fact after I had completed the rearing of a fine 3'oung 

 bird which was given to me ; but my statement has since been confirmed by Mr. 

 Meade- Waldo and others. 



Not many years ago this was a tolerably common bird in the Kentish woods; 

 nevertheless I but rarely found its nest, not more than three or four times at 

 most. I can onl}' suppose that, in that county, the Jay may have been so perse- 

 cuted, that it has to some extent departed from its customary plan of building 

 low down ; and, like the Magpie, has made its home in the inaccessible branches 

 of some lofty tree : that such a proceeding would not be unprecedented is clear 

 from the fact that Sterland described a nest which he found at the top of a beech 

 tree, fifty or sixty feet from the ground. 



The Jay is essentially a bird of the woods and is far more frequently heard 

 than seen on account of its extreme wariness ; now and again you ma}' come suddenly 

 upon it and catch a glimpse of its showy plumage as it flaps irregularly across 

 some opening into the sheltering foliage, screaming harshly as it flies — cliaik, cliaik, 

 cliaik : indeed I once disturbed a compau}^ of five in a small clearing. The alarm 

 note often commences with a frightened sort of whine ; it is vcr}' harsh arrt^li, 



Seebohm gives a singularly accurate account of tlic habits of this bird in a 

 state of freedom: — "The Jay becomes noisiest in the evening; and its discordant 

 notes may then be heard together with those of the Pheasant and the Magpie. 

 Numbers of the birds call together, or answer each other from different parts of 

 the cover, and, with the note of the Wood-Owl and the purr of the Nightjar, make 

 a concert sounding singularl}^ uncanny amidst the gloom of the forest. The 

 flight of the Jay is a somewhat laboured one, performed very irregularly and with 

 rapid beatings of the wings. The Jay's peculiar flight is seen to the greatest per- 

 fection when the bird is flying in the open; for in the thick cover they appear to 

 scurry off amongst the branches, anxious to conceal themselves as soon as possible. 

 In spring the Jay may sometimes be observed to fly at a considerable elevation 

 above its native woods, and, suddenly closing its wings to shoot downwards like 

 an arrow into the cover below. Although capable of long-sustained flight, in this 

 country it rarely flies far, preferring to go from tree to tree or to pursue its waj'- 

 through the tangled undergrowtli. When perched in a tree the Jay sits well upright, 

 its tail sometimes wafted to and fro, its head constantly turned from side to side, 

 and its crest erected or depressed, its restless actions showing its wariness and 

 timidity at being so far from cover. When thus perched the Jay can sometimes 

 be approached very closely ; and it is a noteworthy fact, that singularly beautiful 



