THE JAY. 



381 



Tlie flight of this bird is neither strong nor sustained, and it seldom takes to wing 

 without being forced to do so. Even when it has been obliged to entrust itself to 

 the air, it rarely flies farther than from one clump of trees to another, or across one 

 of the deep gullies that are so common in its native land. As a general rule, it contents 

 itself with merely flitting from one tree to another, and avoids any open space with 

 great solicitude. WhUe flying, the beautiful black and white markings of its plumage 

 are very conspicuous. It is a 

 most noisy and, loquacious bird, 

 posses.sing a loud and curiously 

 ringing voice, and being so fond 

 of exercising its vocal powers 

 that it is generally heard long- 

 before it is seen. Like the piping 

 crow, it is killed for the purposes 

 of the table, and is held in some 

 estimation as an article of food. 



The nest of the Pied Crow 

 Shrike is very large in proportion 

 to the size of the bird, roimd in 

 form, and cup-shaped in the in- 

 terior. It is almost wholly con- 

 structed of very little sticks, and 

 is lined with dried gTasses. Un- 

 like the nest of the preceding 

 species, it is placed in some low 

 branch of a tree. The number of 

 eggs is three or four. The colour 

 of this species is a rich deep 

 blue-black, with the exception of 

 the basal halves of the primary 

 quill-feathers of the wings and 

 tail, and the tips of the tail- 

 feathers, which are snowy white. 

 The bill is black, and the eye 

 bright topaz yellow. 



Intermediate between the 

 piping crow shrikes and the true 

 crows, comes a group of birds 

 well known by the popular title 

 of Jays, or the scientific name of 

 Garrulinpe or talkative birds, so 

 called from their exceeding lo- 

 quacity. The birds of this group 

 have bills with a little notch near 

 the extremity, but they may be 

 distinguished from their relatives 

 by the fact that the nostrils are 

 covered by the feathers of the 



forehead. Their tails are generally rather long in proportion to the size of the bird, 

 and the wings are short and roxinded. In some instances the colouring of these 

 birds is very fine, and it is curious that blue seems to hold predominance throughout 

 the group. 



PIED CROW SHRIKE.— Slrjpero gramlina. 



The best known of this group is our common English Jay, one of the handsomest of 

 our resident birds. 



