JAYS. 65 



is white beneath, and there is a spot of the same colour on the 

 wing. The Magpie is omnivorous, and often commits great 

 ravages in granaries and poultry yards. It never attempts long 

 journeys, but flies from tree to tree when at a short distance 

 apart. The female takes great pains in the construction of her 

 nest, never leaving a greater opening than is necessary for her 

 own entrance and egress ; she covers it with a transparent veil 

 composed of small thorny branches, closely interlaced ; she lines 

 it with wool and other soft materials upon which her young ones 

 snugly repose ; she lays seven or eight eggs of a pale gray 

 colour, spotted black. This bird may be easily tamed and taught 

 to pronounce words, and even short sentences ; often when a 

 strange sound strikes her ear, she endeavours to imitate it. Like 

 other birds of its genus, it is inclined to theft, and also has the 

 habit of concealing superfluous food. The Magpies are known 

 to make so great a destruction among the eggs of grouse, 

 pheasants, partridges, and even among young chickens, in many 

 parts of t.urope, as to be proscribed by law, and destroyed for 

 the premium justly set on their heads. In this country, these 

 birds are confined to the northern regions, and to the planes and 

 table-lands of the Rocky Mountains west of the Mississippi. In 

 Upper California, there is a species which differs from the pre- 

 ceding, in having the bill, and a bare space beneath and behind 

 the eye, yellow. It is called the Yellow-billed Maypie, Pica 

 Niitttiliu. 



77. The Jay of Europe, Cormis ylnndarius, is of a vinous 

 gray, with mustaches, and the quills of the tail black ; it is par- 

 ticularly remarkable for a spot of dazzling blue, striped with a 

 deep blue, which marks a part of the wing coverts. Jays are 

 met with that have a white or yellowish plumage and a red iris 

 like that of albinos. This bird is spread almost throughout 

 Europe, where it lives in pairs, which assemble in small troops, 

 and feed on acorns, gooseberries, cherries and insects. The Jays 

 are of a petulent nature ; they are very lively, and quick in their 

 motions; and in their frequent paroxysms of rage, they forget 

 their own self preservation, and are sometimes caught by the 

 head betwixt two branches and die, thus suspended in the air: 

 their perpetual agitation leads to increased violence when con- 

 fined, and for this reason, they are not recognisable in a cage, 

 not being able to preserve the beauty of their feathers, which aie 

 soon broken, torn and disordered, by their continual rubbing 

 against its walls. [The elegant and common American species, 



77. What are the characters of the European Jay ? What are its habits? 

 What are the characters of the Blue Jay ? 



