sy 
history of the Jay, namely, its migrations. It is a well-known fact that large numbers of 
these birds appear suddenly in the autumn—to the great surprise and discomfiture of the 
keeper, who wonders what the guv’nor will think—in woods where they are seldom seen at 
other seasons. 
This was so in 1877, between October 18th and 22nd, when Jays, previously rare birds, 
became exceedingly plentiful in the woods of Oxfordshire. In 1879 a flight of two to three 
hundred came in close to Dover, and after a short rest proceeded inland. Again in 1+82, 
early in October, in West Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Oxfordshire, large numbers 
of Jays were observed, as well as in parts of south-west England. 
Let us see what was going on in a corner of Western Europe on that date. That veteran 
ornithologist, the late Herr Gitke, of Heligoland, in his diary, under date of October 6th, 
1882, says: “A stormy south-east wind, weather clear: Jays in hundreds ; Hedge Sparrows 
in unprecedented numbers; Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits in hundreds of thousands.” On 
the 7th the entries are: ‘‘ Wind south-east, almost a storm, weather clear: Jays travelling 
across the island uninterruptedly in hosts of thousands and millions; enormous numbers of 
Hedge Sparrows, Chaffinches, and Meadow Pipits.’ On the 8th: ‘Wind south-east, 
freshening, weather clear; Jays in still greater numbers than on the day before, uninterrupted 
swarms, counting to thousands, passing across, as well to north and south of the island.” Since 
1882 only one solitary individual has been seen. It is scarcely probable that our English 
woodlands would take a tithe of those numbers; it is therefore likely that the main body went 
further south, into France and Spain. 
There is nothing more marvellous in the whole range of our knowledge than this 
outgoing of the Jays, because they are weak-winged birds, with body-feathers loose and 
fluffy, and a somewhat unmanageable tail in a gale of wind; also they are not ranked amongst 
regular migrants, spending their days in endless flittings to and fro from tree to tree. Why 
are they here, then, on the confines of Western Europe in assembled thousands? Surely the 
forest lands from the Elbe to tbe Vistula, and the Vistula to the Ural, are wide and 
deep enough to shelter and supply food for the whole tribe. Then why the need of this 
exodus ? and what impulse, or feeling of necessity, working in each individual, urges forward 
collectively their long flight—out and away—into the unknown? From below comes no 
murmur of beech boughs, no sighing of pine tops, only the eternal wash and rumble of the 
cold, grey, pitiless sea, and on every side a limitless water-horizon, which for anything they 
can know to the contrary (being probably birds of the year) may prove an Atlantic, an 
ocean without a further shore. Did Columbus and his sailors ever venture more ? 
A local name of the Jay in Lincolnshire is “ Popinjay,”’ a gaily-coloured figure of a 
bird set up as a mark to be shot at, in the days of the long-bow and cross-bow. ‘‘ Jay,” too, 
was a term of contempt, as applied to some gaily dressed fellow. Thus in Cymbeiline 
(Act IIT., Se. 4) :-— 
ce 
Some jay of Italy has betrayed hin.” 
Educational Series.—No. 1.—OWLS. No. 2,-WOODPECKERS. No. 3.—_STARLING. No. 4.— 
SWALLOWS. No. 5.—KINGFISHER. No. 6.—OSPREY. No. 7.—DIPPERS. No. 8.— NIGHTJAR. 
No. 9.—TITMICE. No.10.-. KESTREL. No. 11..PLOVERS. No.12.—TERNS. No. 13.—WAGTAILS. 
No. 14.—CHOUGH. No. 15.—JAY. No. 16.—SKUAS. 
Others in course of preparation. 
Copies of the above may be obtained from the Society’s Publishing Department, Knowledye Office, 
326, High Holborn, W.C., or from the Hon. Sec., Mrs. F. EK. Lemon, Hillcrest, Redhill, on the following 
terms :—Post free: three copies of any one number of the Series, 1d.; one dozen, 8d.; 100, Js. 6d. 
Assorted packets, one copy of any six numbers, 2d.; one copy of any twelve, or two copies of any six 
numbers, 4d., or 50 assorted numbers, 1s. Special terms for larger quantities to County Councils, the 
Constabulary, and Schools. 
The Society’s Publishing Office, Knowledge, 326, High Holborn, London, W.C. 1897. 
