The Jay 157 



and conspicuous as the bird's plumage is, it is rarely seen until its harsh note 

 proclaims its departure ti) a safer retreat." 



If not aware of the viciuit}' of man, however, the Jay is by no means so shy, 

 his curiosit}' soon gets the better of his nervousness and he conies into the open 

 to investigate the cause of every sound ; j'et he is ever on the alert and the least 

 sudden movement sends him back instantly to cover. 



The nest of the Jay is believed to be rarely built at a great height from the 

 ground, of those which I found the highest elevation was about sixteen feet, in 

 the branches of a sapling too slender to support the weight of a man, so that I 

 and my companion were compelled to draw it gradually down until I was able to lift 

 out the nest from its cradle of twigs. My first nest was in a plantation of ash- 

 trees and so near the ground that I was able to lift it down without climbing, it 

 contained a full clutch of six eggs, and I had no sooner taken it than both 

 parents, who were close b}', made the whole neighbourhood ring with their harsh 

 screams of rage ; I caught a glimpse of one of them, but only for a moment, it 

 had not sufficient courage to come close. 



The nest is frequently placed in hawthorn, sloe, hazel, fir, yew, or holly, and 

 is very compact and strongl}- built, though externally it has a ragged appearance, 

 being constructed of interlaced sticks and twigs, which become denser and are 

 moulded into a neat cup-shape in the centre : the lining consists of rootlets or 

 grasses and horsehair. The eggs number from five to seven and, excepting that 

 their average size is larger, much resemble one of the less t3'pical varieties of the 

 Blackbird's egg : in ground colour they are pale green, so densely mottled with 

 lighter or darker clay-colour that their general tone is either pale olivaceous stone- 

 colour, or pale cla3--colour; at the larger extremity which is usually slightly deeper 

 in tint, there is very frequently an irregular black line, like a crack : sometimes 

 the darker area forms a scarcely perceptible zone, the extremity itself being quite 

 pale. The time of nidification is from the latter end of April to about the middle 

 of May, most nests being found in the second month; but it has been known for 

 the Jay to be still later, perhaps owing to a first nest having been plundered. 



The food of this bird consists in summer of worms, spiders, insects, eggs, 

 young birds, and fruit ; but later in the year, chiefly of berries, acorns, beech- 

 mast and nuts. In captivity its food is still more varied, Mr. J. H. Gurney, 

 (Zoologist 1892, p. 429), gives the following as the diet supplied to two tame Jays — 

 " The first one would eat worms, grapes and acorns, with equal avidity ; but its 

 beak could not pierce the acorn's husk until it had been partly pared off, then 

 holding it with its foot the bird would rapidly pull it to pieces with its strong 

 beak. In the same way, if a dead sparrow is given to a Jay, it will stand on one 



Vol. II. S2 



