TJie Jay. 275 



THE JAY, (Garrulus glandarius,) 



Is less than the magpie, and resembles him more in the 

 habits of his life than in the shape and colour of his body. 

 Like him he is talkative, and ready to imitate all sounds, 

 but boasts of ornamental colours, which the magpie is 

 deprived of. The ablest painter can produce no colour 

 to equal the brightness of the chequered tablets of white, 

 black, and blue, which adorn the sides of his wings. 

 His head is covered with feathers, which are moveable 

 at will, and the motion of which is expressive of the 

 internal affections of the bird, whether he is stimulated 

 by fear, anger, or desire. 



A Jay, kept by a person in the north of England, had 

 learned at the approach of cattle to set a cur dog upon 

 them, by whistling and calling him by his name. One 

 winter, during a severe frost, the dog was by this means 

 excited to attack a cow that was big with calf, when the 

 poor thing fell on the ice, and was much hurt. The Jay 

 was complained of as a nuisance, and its owner was 

 obliged to destroy it. 



The hen lays five or six eggs, of a dull white colour, 

 mottled with brown. 



