94 BIRDS AND MAN 



to look at, that I visited this forest. I had also 

 formed the idea that there was no place in England 

 where the jay could be seen to better advantage, 

 as they are, or until recently were, exceedingly 

 abundant at Savernake, and were not in constant 

 fear of the keeper and his everlasting gun. Here one 

 could witness their early spring assemblies, when the 

 jay, beautiful at all times, is seen at his very best. 



It is necessary to say here that this habit of the 

 jay does not appear to be too well known to our 

 ornithologists. When I stated in a small work 

 on British Birds a few years ago that jays had the 

 custom of congregating in spring, a distinguished 

 naturalist, who reviewed the book in one of the 

 papers, rebuked me for so absurd a statement, and 

 informed me that the jay is a solitary bird except 

 at the end of summer and in the early autumn, 

 when they are sometimes seen in families. If I 

 had not made it a rule never to reply to a critic, 

 I could have informed this one that I knew exactly 

 where his knowledge of the habits of the jay was 

 derived — that it dated back to a book published 

 ninety-nine years ago. It was a very good book, 

 and all it contains, some errors included, have been 

 incorporated in most of the important ornitho- 

 logical works which have appeared during the 



