MAGPIE AND JAY 57 



captivity. The jay's song is better known, and is said by the same 

 authority to be heard throughout the year. It is made up of a 

 variety of low warblings. More than one observer has noted that it 

 may be interspersed with imitations of the sounds uttered by other 

 animals. The jay is, in fact, a notable mimic, and has been known 

 to imitate with marvellous fidelity the cock, the hen, the owl, the cat, 

 the dog, the horse, and the sharpening of a scythe. 1 



The magpie begins nesting operations earlier than the jay, often 

 in February, the latter species waiting usually till April. The magpie's 

 nest merits special notice. It is a huge structure, bristling with thorns 

 and forming a conspicuous object, especially when placed in the top 

 boughs of some tall tree. In this country they are not often seen, 

 owing to the comparative scarcity of the species, but are a familiar 

 sight in many parts of the Continent. Travellers to Paris may mark 

 them at almost regular intervals on either side of the main lines from 

 the north coast of France. It is perhaps the singularly conspicuous 

 plumage of the magpie that has led it to make a roof to its home. 

 It is, further, noteworthy that, like the longtailed-tit, which also builds 

 a domed nest, the magpie is provided with a tail that must be some- 

 what difficult to accommodate in the limited space available, especially 

 when half a dozen or more young are in the nest. 



Magpies' nests without domes are sometimes found. One such 

 was placed in a low thorn bush, but the thorns made it impossible to 

 reach it. Another was seen on the top of a spruce fir, and resembled 

 a crow's nest. It was occupied for several successive seasons till 

 1904, when it was appropriated by a pair of kestrels. The magpies 

 then built a new nest with a dome. 2 



These instances, and others could be added, go to show, further, 



1 C. A. Witchell, in his Cries and Call-notes of Wild Birds (p. 63), writes of the magpie as 

 follows : " The common cry which one hears from the wild bird is a hoarse rapid 'shushu- 

 shushu.' This is given sometimes as a call-note, and sometimes as an alarm. I have also heard 

 the wild birds chattering together with a great variety of tone and emphasis, though in a 

 manner suggestive of amicability.' For the Jay see G. Montagu, A Dictionary of British 

 Birds, edit. E. Newman, 1881 ; W. Borrer, Birds of Sussex, 1891, p. 155 ; V. Fatio, Faune de la 

 Suisse, ii. p. 735 ; H. Seebohm, British Birds, i. p. 569 ; Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, iv. 



2 H. E. Forrest, Fauna of North Wales, 1907, p. 176. 



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