JAYS. 



155 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The Common Jay {Garruhis s^latidarius), a handsome bird, well known 

 in England and the south part of Scotland. It is abundant in the forests of 

 Europe. The jay inhabits thick woods ; its food consists partly of insects 

 and worms, and partly of vegetable matters, especially beech-nuts and acorns ; 

 its predilection for the last is alluded to in its specific name — glatis, an acorn. 

 Although the ordinary notes of the jay are harsh and grating, this bird in 

 captivity soon becomes very amusing from the facility with which it imitates 



Fig. 81. — The Jay {Garruhis glaiuia 



the human voice, and indeed almost any other sound. Montague informs us 

 that it will sometimes, in the spring, utter a soft and pleasing song, but so 

 low as not to be heard at any considerable distduce, and suddenly introduce 

 the mewing of a cat, the note of a kite or buzzard, the hooting of an owl, and 

 even the neighing of a horse. Bewick says, " We have heard one imitate the 

 sound of a saw so exactly, that though it was on a Sunday, we could hardly 

 be persuaded that there was not a carpenter at work in the house." A corre- 

 spondent in the " Magazine of Natural History" writes : " I have heard the jay 

 perform an uninterrupted song : it mocked a greenfinch most inimitably, and 

 it was a considerable time before I could persuade myself that it was an 

 imitation." 



