JAY 



PLATE L. 



Garrulus glandarius* . . LINNAEUS. 



Corvus glandarius, . . . PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



THE nest of the Jay, which is usually commenced in 

 April, is placed in a tall bush or hedge, generally at 

 a not greater elevation than about twenty or thirty feet 

 from the ground, and sometimes less. It is of an open 

 shape, formed of sticks and twigs, and well lined with 

 small roots, grasses, and horse-hair. As shown in the char- 

 acteristic plate, the nest of the Jay is very neatly made, 

 being deeply cup-shaped and very bulky ; the materials are 

 nicely graduated from the outside to the interior. Some 

 are much more cleverly constructed than others. 



The eggs, which are usually laid in April or the 

 beginning of May, are five or six in number, greenish grey 

 or yellowish white, freckled all over with shades of light 

 brown, and often zoned towards the larger end. 



They vary occasionally both in size and in degree of 

 polish, as well as in the ground colour. 



The old birds are exceedingly valiant in defence of 

 their nestlings. The late Mr. Briggs, as recorded in " Birds 

 of Devon," states that "he found that the old birds had 

 been feeding them on the small round galls that are so 

 common on oak leaves." On June 17, 1857, he found 



