PERCHING BIRDS. 131 



A curious incident once happened to a sports- 

 man, who, going into a copse to shoot ring-doves, 

 and seeing something high up on a branch, fired ; 

 when down fell a lump, apparently of old rags, 

 which proved to be a number of jays. As soon as 

 they touched the ground, none being mortally 

 wounded, the cluster separated, each bird flying 

 away in a different direction, with most vociferous 

 chatterings. The weather was very severe, and 

 they had evidently huddled together, in that odd 

 way for warmth. 



Like the jay, the MAGPIE is a clever and shy 

 bird ; very keen to perceive danger, and very 

 acute in shunning it. It is quite proverbial how 

 magpies and jays know Sunday from week-days, 

 and will allow any one to come much nearer to 

 them on that day, evidently feeling secure. This 

 fact is noticed by a writer in " The Zoologist, for 

 1851." He says : " Where I reside (Stroud) the 

 jays visit my shrubberies, and when I go there on 

 a week-day, they immediately give out their note 

 of alarm ' skay, skay !' but, strange to say, on 

 several Sundays, I have approached them at a 

 quarter of the distance, and they would fly out 

 without any cry of alarm." 



The magpie is a great enemy to young black- 

 birds:, and also destroys eggs of all sorts, which 

 propensities have procured it a bad name ; and, in 



