i8 4 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



and usually at no great height from the ground. 

 The egg is a very plain one for the bird which 

 lays it ; the ground colour white, so closely freckled 

 over with gray or yellowish-brown as to give it the 

 appearance at a little distance of being uniformly 

 gray or brown. Not unfrequently there are three 

 or four hair-lines of a blackish colour at the larger 

 end. 



When the young are able to fly, instead of 

 leaving the place of their birth and shifting for 

 themselves, as the young of many birds do, they 

 remain a long time with their parents, going about 

 the woods in little family parties with much chatter- 

 ing and screaming. 



The Jay is wonderfully inquisitive, and, although 

 shy enough if he catches sight of you, he may 

 nevertheless be decoyed within thirty or forty yards, 

 if you remain concealed. We have seen a French 

 gamekeeper bring a Jay within shot by imitating 

 the squeal of a young rabbit ; but we could never 

 get very near to one of these birds by trying to 

 " stalk " him. The sense of hearing in the Jay is so 

 acute that, even when he cannot see you, the crack- 

 ing of a twig under foot is often sufficient to alarm 



