134 THE SHRIKE, 



finished by repeated visits, the old birds return to the 

 woods, with all their chattering children, and become 

 the same wild, cautious creatures they were before. 

 Some of our birds separate from their broods, as soon 

 as they are able to provide for themselves ; but the jay 

 and its family associate during all the autumn and 

 winter months, taking great delight in each other's 

 company, and only separate to become founders of new 

 establishments. We see them in winter under the shel- 

 ter of tall hedges, or on the sunny sides of woods and 

 copses, seeking amid the dry leaves for acorns, or the 

 crab, to pick out the seeds, or for the worms and grubs 

 hidden under cowdung ; feeding in perfect silence, yet 

 so timid and watchful, that they seldom permit the 

 sportsman to approach them. When disturbed, they 

 take shelter in the depth of the thicket, calling to each 

 other with a harsh and loud voice, that resounds through 

 the covert. The Welsh call this creature " screck y 

 coed" the screamer of the wood. The jay is a very 

 heavy, inelegant bird. Its general plumage is sober and 

 plain, though its fine browns harmoniously blend with 

 each other : but the beautiful blue-barred feathers, that 

 form the greater coverts of the wings, distinguish it 

 from every other bird, and, in the days when feather- 

 work was in favor with our fair countrywomen, were in 

 such request, that every gamekeeper, and schoolboy 

 brother with his Christmas gun, persecuted the poor 

 jay through all his retirements, to obtain his wings. 



The great shrike, or butcher-bird (lanius excubitor), 

 is not uncommon with us, and breeds annually near my 

 dwelling. It is one of our late birds of passage, but its 

 arrival is soon made known to us by its croaking, un- 

 musical voice from the summit of some tree. Its nest 

 is large and ill-concealed ; and during the season of 

 incubation the male bird is particularly vigilant and 

 uneasy at any approach towards his sitting mate, though 

 often by his clamorous anxiety he betrays it and her to 

 every bird-nesting boy. The female, when the eggs are 

 hatched, unites her vociferations with those of the male, 

 and facilitates the detection of the brood. Both parents 

 are very assiduous in their attentions to their offspring, 



