572 BRITISH BIRDS. 
siderable 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 way through the tangled undergrowth. 
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 and conspicuous as the bird’s plumage is, it is rarely 
seen until its harsh note proclaims its departure to a safer retreat. 
Like all its congeners, the Jay wins no favour from the game-preserver 
or gardener, although there is little doubt that its ill-deeds are greatly 
exaggerated by its persecutors. In summer, when the garden-fruits are 
ripe, the Jay appears to overcome its wariness and ventures near our 
houses to satisfy its appetite for this fare. In the game-coverts it is 
charged, and with some reason, with the serious offence of devouring 
young Pheasants and sucking the eggs not only of small birds but also of 
game. This makes the keeper its sworn enemy, who never loses a chance 
to shoot or trap a Jay. Dixon has seen the Jay in close pursuit of a 
Great Titmouse, who only escaped capture by taking refuge in a thick 
bush; and on other occasions he has seen it strike at small birds, only 
apparently deterred from following up the chase by the presence of a 
human being. In autumn the Jay is extremely fond of acorns, beech- 
mast, and nuts, which it will sometimes hide in holes of the ground or in 
crevices, burying one here and there; but whether the bird ever returns 
to these buried stores is difficult to say. In winter the Jay subsists upon 
whatever it can find. At this season it may often be seen clinging to the 
sides of pea- and bean-stacks; and if hard pressed, carrion will not be 
refused. In the early part of the year the Jay is indeed the farmer’s and 
gardener’s friend; for he lives almost entirely on worms, grubs, and. 
noxious insects, searching for them both in the open pastures and under 
hedges and bushes—perhaps, by the way, the only time the Jay visits the 
ground, where it is not seen to walk, like the true Crows, but to pursue its 
way in a series of hops. 
It is very probable that Jays pair for life. At all seasons they may be 
observed in pairs; and the noisy gatherings of these birds early in 
the year, probably for the purpose of pairing, are most likely composed of 
single birds and the young of the previous season. Further, pairs of these 
birds will frequent one locality and regularly nest in certain places, pro- 
vided you do not molest them. In April, when the woodlands are rapidly 
becoming dense and secluded under a thick canopy of foliage, the Jay 
searches out a site for its nest. This is rarely at any great height from 
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