JAY 3127 



The climate is uniform, the only change 

 occurring in the rainfall during the wet and 

 dry seasons. In the western section there is 

 rain throughout the year, and thunderstorms 

 are violent. 



The Inhabitants. Living in this paradise of 

 the tropics are about 30,000,000 natives and 

 81,000 Europeans; more than two-thirds of the 

 latter are Dutch. The Javanese, representing 

 the highest type of Malayan culture, are a 

 small, yellow-brown people somewhat taller 

 and more comely than their neighbors of 

 Sumatra. All religions are tolerated, and the 

 Dutch Reformed and Roman Catholic churches 

 have many followers, but the natives are 

 chiefly Mohammedan. In 1913 there were 

 about 360 missionaries in Java. In the same 

 year there were 816 government schools with 

 120,000 pupils, and 490 schools with an enroll- 

 ment of nearly 31,000. 



History and Government. Until the fifteenth 

 century the chief influence in the history of 

 Java was Hindu, and many relics of this period 

 still remain, notable among them being the 

 great temple Bolo Bolder, in Central Java. 

 The island was conquered by the Mohamme- 

 dans and remained in their power until the 

 coming of the Europeans. 



Java- first came into touch with Europe when 

 the Dutch East India Company established 

 trading stations along the coasts. Dutch influ- 

 ence was gradually extended over the island, 

 much the same as English control spread over 

 India. From 1811 to 1816 the British con- 

 trolled Java, but Holland regained the island, 

 which has since been the seat of the Dutch 

 colonial government in the East. 



Since 1870 Holland and Java have been 

 mutually benefited through their relations. 

 Private agriculture has greatly increased, and 

 in 1912 Europeans held 1,129,000 acres on lease 

 by the government, and about 8,638,600 acres 

 were under native cultivation. 



The island is divided into twenty-three resi- 

 dencies, similar to American counties, under 

 the Governor-General, who is assisted by an 

 advisory council of five, and resident governors. 

 There are several vassal native states. Batavia 

 is the capital city. Java is famous for having 

 one of the world's finest botanical gardens at 

 Biutenzorg. See EAST INDIES, DUTCH. E.B.P. 



Consult Wallace's The Malay Archipelago; De 

 Wit's Facts and Fancies about Java; Knox's Boy 

 Travelers in the Far East. 



JAY, one of a family of birds containing 

 about 200 species, among them the ravens, 



JAY 



crows and magpies. They are found in all 

 parts of the. world except New Zealand. The 

 members of the family to which the jay be- 

 longs are charac- 

 terized by com- 

 mon traits of dis- 

 position rather 

 than by simi- 

 larity of appear- 

 ance. Some are 

 large and some 

 are small ; the 

 crows are entirely 

 black, and the 

 magpies are black 

 with bold white 

 markings. The 

 American, or blue, 

 jay, which is a 



little larger than AMERICAN BLUE JAY 

 the robin, is dressed in a very beautiful gray- 

 blue coat, with markings of black and white. 

 On its head it wears a crest of feathers sloping 

 up from the bill in pompadour fashion. The 

 Canadian jay, or whisky Jack, is gray without 

 any other color. 



They are all saucy, jaunty fellows that de- 

 stroy and eat the eggs in other nests, mimic 

 the notes of other birds, and take great de- 

 light in teasing. The jays like to surround a 

 sleepy owl and confuse him with their shrill 

 chatter. They either show some degree of 

 intelligence or are imitative, for they can be 

 taught to pronounce certain words with a 

 good degree of distinctness. Their own note 

 of jay, jay, is shrill and unmusical. They 

 build their nests from ten to twenty feet above 

 the ground. These are compact and snug, 

 made of twigs and lined with feathers and 

 bits of thread and wool. In March or early 

 April they raise their families of from four to 

 six. The eggs are pale olive-green, or ashy- 

 brown with light or dark brown spots. 



The jays do not migrate except from the 

 extreme northern limits of their range. 



JAY, JOHN (1745-1829), an American jurist 

 and statesman who rendered distinguished 

 service to his country in the early period of 

 its history. He was associated with John 

 Adams and Benjamin Franklin in the negotia- 

 tion of the peace treaty with Great Britain at 

 the close of the Revolutionary War; he aided 

 Alexander Hamilton in his efforts to secure the 

 ratification of the Constitution by writing some 

 of the papers collected in the Federalist (see 

 FEDERALIST, THE) ; and the most important 



