52 OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 



Forest, that mourners over the ordered destruction 

 of a number of the species there not long ago 

 may take heart. 



It is a pleasant reflection for the bird - lover 

 that even the most vigilant of gamekeepers cannot 

 encompass the bird's destruction at times. We 

 have a few pairs on the Surrey hills, and one of 

 them to my knowledge defied the best efforts of 

 an exceptionally energetic young watcher last- 

 spring. They ignored his traps, shunned his gun, 

 and, what is more, hid their nest so effectually 

 that he never found it. 



We have met with odd pairs of Jays in the 

 non-game-preserving parts of Wales ; but neither 

 my brother nor I have ever encountered it in 

 Scotland, where it must be getting scarce, judging 

 from the fact that we have been requested by 

 gamekeepers to send them any Jays' wings we 

 might come across in our wanderings amongst 

 their English brethren. These were needed on 

 account of the useful character of the blue wing 

 coverts in the manufacture of artificial fishing- 

 flies. The bird becomes so silent and wary during 

 the breeding season, that the casual observer might 

 be pardoned for thinking that it had deserted a 

 wood in the spring, where he had heard and seen 

 it plentifully in the autumn. 



It feeds its young by thrusting its bill into 

 their throats and regurgitating. If watched to its 

 nest containing young from some hiding-place, the 

 Jay will sometimes descend to the ground and 

 hop round, and, in case of discovering anything of 

 a suspicious character, will break through its usual 

 habit of spring-time silence and dart off with a 

 harsh squawk. 



The nest is placed in evergreens, tall thick 



