3i8 THE JAY. 



with the exception of the two last mentioned, they bury it in the 

 ground, not in hoarded heaps, but separately, here and there, as 

 fancy may direct them. When the snows of winter have fairly set in, 

 and thus prevented the jay from finding a supply of acorns amongst 

 the fallen leaves in the woods, it is then seen flitting from hedge to 

 hedge in the vicinity of pea and bean stacks, where it may be ob- 

 served clinging to the sides of these in quest of uncovered pods ; 

 and thus it acquires part of its scanty provender, " till the vernal 

 suns and showers" have dissolved the accumulated snow, and 

 cleared its former haunts. To these it returns once more, and con- 

 sumes myriads of insects in comparative safety. But when the fatal 

 season of peas and ripe cherries arrives, scarcely anything short of 

 death can deter this unfortunate bird from participating in the prof- 

 fered feast. The gardener, in discharging his gun at it, is sure to 

 make bad worse by his officious interference ; for in his eagerness to 

 kill the poor bird, he never once reflects that the contents of his piece 

 do ten times more harm to the fruit and to the tender shoots of the 

 cherry tree, than the dreaded presence of half a dozen jays, all with 

 empty stomachs. Towards the end of April, when nature smiles 

 around, and the woods begin to expand their opening bloom, he who 

 loves to wander through them, in quest of ornithological adventures, 

 will sometimes hear a profusion of imitative tones not far from the 

 place where he is straying, now hoarse and sonorous, now lowered 

 and subdued, and composed of modulations almost approaching to 

 those of song : they are produced by ten or a dozen sprightly jays, 

 assembled in merry mimicry and glee, ere they depart in pairs to 

 select a place for approaching incubation. This is the only period 

 of the year in which the jay shows a disposition to be social ; for, at 

 other times, it is a wandering solitary bird, and does not allow its 

 young to associate with it, after they have* arrived at a state to be 

 able to provide for themselves. Here, where the jay is encouraged 

 and protected, this part of its economy may be easily verified. 



This bird would probably not be noticed as having anything re- 

 markable either in shape or plumage, were it not for the loveliness 

 of its bastard wing and greater covert feathers. The blue, the black, 

 and the white in them are so exquisitely blended, that the eye is 

 never tired with gazing on the colours. Nothing can possibly be 



