6(5 FAMILIAR WILD JilltDS. 



oljvioiisly afford. Tliis peculiarity is more noticoahle in 

 the Jay, inasmuch as its food io of a more vegetable charac- 

 ter tlian the rest of the decidedly i)ronouneed Corvidae 

 family. 



The home of the Jay^ is generally pitched in woods, or 

 in plantations known locally as copses, shaws, or spinneys, 

 and from these vantage-grounds this bird lays all the 

 surrounding country under tribute. The food indiudes, 

 besides insects and worms, the egg;s and yoinig of 

 small birds, fruit, such as cherries, peas, and such like 

 vegetables, anything in the shape of corn or grain : 

 indeed, keepers of preserves have to be especially watchful 

 to see that the Indian corn and other food placed for the 

 game is not eaten by the Jays in the neighbourhood. 



Doubtless the Jay has his good qualities, and possildy, 

 did he not eat the insects they would demolish more than 

 he does ; but the gun of the gamekeeper and trap of the 

 husbandman are still as much directed against the Jay as 

 against the ]Magpie. 



X^nlike that bird, the Jivj' builds an open uegt without 

 the domejjke protection, and much resembling a very 

 large Blackbird's, pest. The structure is generally hidclen 

 amoiigst the leaves in a thick_tree or bush, and composed 

 externally of short sticks and t^vigs, hned with fine roots 

 and grasses. The egg-s are usually five_or six in number, 

 of a yellowish-white ground colour, though this colour is 

 somewhat obscured by a multitude of greenish-brown spots, 

 that materially alters the general appearance of the cg^, 

 which is also streaked with several lines of black around 

 the larger end. 



Jays have usually but one nest in the year, and, like 

 Magpies, the young birds congregate around the district in 



