Birds of the Indian Hills 



the scraps pitched out by the cook. Some- 

 times two jays make a dash at the same morsel. 

 Then a tiff ensues, but it is mostly made up of 

 menacing screeches. One bird bears away the 

 coveted morsel, swearing lustily, and the unsuc- 

 cessful claimant lets him go in peace. When 

 a jay comes upon a morsel of food too large 

 to be swallowed whole, it flies with it to a 

 tree and holds it under one foot and tears it 

 up with its beak. This is a characteristically 

 corvine habit. The black-throated jay is an 

 exceedingly restless bird ; it is always on the 

 move. Like its English cousin, it is not a bird 

 of very powerful flight. As Gilbert White says : 

 " Magpies and jays flutter with powerless 

 wings, and make no despatch." In the Hima- 

 layas there is no necessity for it to make much 

 despatch ; it rarely has to cover any distance on 

 the wing. When it does fly a dozen yards or 

 so, its passage is marked by much noisy flapping 

 of the pinions. 



The nutcrackers can scarcely be numbered 

 among the common birds, but are sometimes 

 seen in our hill stations, and, such is the 

 " cussedness " of birds that if I omit to notice 

 the nutcrackers several are certain to show 

 themselves to many of those who read these 



38 



