192 THE SHRIKE, 



pick out the seeds, or for the worms and grubs hid- 

 den under covvdung ; 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, call- 

 ing to each other with a harsh and loud voice, that 

 resounds through the covert. The Welsh call this 

 creature " screch 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 clays when feather- 

 work was in favour with our fair countrywomen, 

 were in such request, that every gamekeeper, and 

 schoolboy brother with his Christmas gun, perse- 

 cuted the poor jay through all his retirements, to 

 obtain his wings. 



The great shrike, or butcher-bird (lanius ex- 

 cubitor), 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, unmusical voice 

 from the summit of some tree. Its nest is large 

 and ill concealed; and during the season of in- 

 cubation the male bird is particularly vigilant and 

 uneasy at any approach towards his sitting mate, 

 though often by his clamorous anxiety he betrays 



