482 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
moors partially covered with plantations ; fertile plains fenced in with 
wooded hedgerows and studded with farmhouses and cottages, are 
the type of landscape they prefer. In spring plumage the Magpie is 
a handsome bird, the feathers of the back being of velvety black, 
while the breast and part of the wings are pure white. 
In the Brazils and Paraguay we find another species, whose whole 
plumage is a fine cerulean blue, with the exception of the head and 
throat, which are black. In China 
there is also a Magpie of beautiful 
cobalt-blue plumage; its two centre 
tail feathers are very long, barred with 
black, and tipped with pure white ; 
with bill and legs red. It is ex- 
tremely shy, and occasionally is seen 
in flocks. By the inhabitants it is 
frequently taught to speak. 
The Jays (Garrulus) have short 
bills, which are slightly notched at the 
tip; head rather large; feathers on 
the upper and anterior part of the 
head erectile when the bird 1s irritated ; 
those feathers at the base of the upper 
mandible are stiff, with short barbs. 
It is not less shy than other members 
Fie a oa I of the family, although it frequents 
gardens, where it feeds on beans and 
peas, of which it seems to be particularly fond. Its food, however, 
is not confined to fruit and vegetables, as it picks up worms, insects, 
the eggs of small birds, and crustacea, after the manner of crows 
and magpies. Naturally irascible and quarrelsome, they are never- 
theless easily tamed when taken young, and soon learn to pronounce 
a few words. They abound in Europe and the Indies. The Euro- 
pean Jay (Garrulus glandarius, Fig. 198) is a pretty bird of soft 
and blended plumage, the feathers of the fore part of the head 
elongated, oblong, and erectile; its general colour is a delicate 
brownish red tinged with grey, approaching to purple on the back. 
The most conspicuous trait of the plumage is the patch of ultra- 
marine blue, banded with blackish blue, on the primary coverts. 
The American variety of Jay is not quite as large as the European 
representative ; its plumage is less brilliant. In characteristics they 
are much alike, being equally mischievous and dreaded by the smaller 
feathered denizens at the period of nesting. 
