246 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



in Alsace, as well as all along the borders of 

 France and Germany, the peasants make a sort 

 of cake with j;he remainder. 



I saw the jay to-day for the first time ; Mary 

 shewed me several of these pretty birds under a 

 hedge. We watched them for some time, and 

 I actually saw one raise and depress the bunch 

 of black and white feathers on his forehead re- 

 peatedly ; the wing coverts are beautiful. Jays are 

 very affectionate to their young, who remain with 

 their parents during all the autumn and winter 

 months, instead of separating early, as most birds 

 do. In winter they are to be seen continually 

 under high hedges, or on the sunny side of woods 

 and copses, seeking for acorns, crab-apples, or for 

 the grubs and worms to be found in fields where 

 cows have pastured. They are timid and watch- 

 ful, and feed in silence ; but timid as they are, 

 they are very destructive in summer to the gardens. 



The Lumleys, you know, live in a very se- 

 questered part of the forest, and the jays seem 

 to have established themselves in that undis- 

 turbed spot. Miss Lumley told me that they 

 make great havoc among the beans in June ; 

 and though in general cautious and wary, at 

 that season their boldness is quite remarkable, 

 and nothing seems to intimidate them. She has 

 frequently seen one of the parent birds descend 

 from a tree into the bean rows they soon an- 



