THE JAY. 183 



Under the name of Corvus glandarius, the Jay 

 has been ranked amongst the Crows ; but although 

 to a certain extent there is a family resemblance, 

 those who have had the opportunity of observing the 

 present species in a wild state will agree that in 

 haunts, habits, and the nature of his food, he differs 

 remarkably from all his sable friends, and that the 

 generic name Garrulus, which Brisson, in 1 760, 

 proposed for the Jays, was not only deservedly but 

 appropriately applied. Our British Jay has been 

 called glandarius from his partiality for acorns, 

 beech -mast, and other forest fruits ; but he is in 

 fact omnivorous ; for in addition to the food already 

 named, he takes grubs, worms, mice, eggs, and 

 young birds, and becomes remarkably bold in the 

 autumn in robbing orchards of cherries and dam- 

 sons. He has a curious habit of hoarding up food 

 for future occasion, and has frequently been de- 

 tected on a visit to a large store of acorns. The 

 Jay evinces a great partiality for oak-woods : we 

 have always noticed the species more frequently 

 where oaks abound no doubt on account of the 

 sustenance and shelter which these trees afford. 



The nest is generally placed in the fork of a tree, 



