THE JAY. 201 



keepers' vermin-rails in the vicinity. Writing in 1872, he 

 says ; — " There have not been any Jays there for well-nigh 

 thirty years." ^ Mr. William Patterson has informed me that 

 when he was a boy at Swinton School, about fifty years ago, 

 these birds were plentiful in Duns Castle woods, and there 

 were also some about Marchmont. Mr. W. Duns lately 

 showed me a stuffed specimen which had been killed near 

 Duns Castle about 1856, and stated that John Fairlie, who 

 was then gamekeeper there, used frequently to trap and 

 shoot Jays at that period in the woods. Mr. Turnbull, of 

 Abbey St. Bathans, has told me that they used at one time 

 to frequent the woods about The Eetreat ; and Mr. Craw, 

 Foulden West Mains, has mentioned that one was killed 

 near Dye Cottage about thirty-five years ago, and is still 

 preserved by a shepherd in that neighbourhood. 



Although I have not been so fortunate as to meet with 

 the Jay in Berwickshire, I have seen great numbers near 

 Eemorantin in France, where they used to frequent the 

 orchards and woods in small flocks, and were very shy and 

 wary. It is to be regretted that this handsome bird has 

 been totally exterminated in the county. 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. vii. p. 514. 





