IN THE DEPTHS OF A FIR FOREST 49 



* with one eye open,' for while one eye is completely closed, the other is as wide 

 open and startling as ever. 



So well does the plumage of a Long-eared Owl harmonize with the gloomy 

 surroundings as he sits in the darkest shadows of a pine, that it is often an 

 extremely difficult matter to discern him at all; particularly as the owl, 

 by drawing its wing round it like a cloak, and making itself appear as thin 

 and inconspicuous as possible, looks for all the world like a piece of dead wood 

 that has lodged in the tree ; and a very different creature from the same Owl 

 with feathers erected, in the act of ' displaying.' 



In those pine woods which the Long-eared Owl haunts, one may usually 

 expect to find the nest of another bird, which also, in the nesting season, at 

 least, conceals its presence behind a cloak of silence and stealth ; the jay, to 

 wit. 



One can generally judge when the young jays are on the wing by the 

 loud squawkings and chatterings that issue from the wood; yet as long as 

 they are in the nest they and their parents observe a complete and discreet 

 silence. 



Whilst photographing a jay and her young during the past summer, I 

 noticed that the only sound which the old birds uttered was a high-pitched, 

 soft mewing cry which I had not heard before. The young ones seemed 

 unable to express their feelings verbally except by an indistinct noise. Yet, 

 almost as they left the nest, they commenced their harsh jay calls. 



The jay, like the magpie, sits exceedingly tightly whilst brooding her 

 eggs ; and one wonders whether she does so in order to escape observation. 

 For a jay, squeezed so tightly on to her nest that only her tail and the tip of 

 her beak are visible, will refuse to move until some very real danger threatens 

 her, such as an outstretched hand within a few inches of her back. 



But, if frightened off the nest, and convinced of the fact that she has been 

 discovered, she may spend some hours in making up her mind that she will 

 return again. 



And so the jay, whose habits are so retiring, is comparatively seldom seen. 

 When it is seen, there is no mistaking it however, for as it flies away the black 

 tail and white tail coverts distinguish it from other birds that might occur in 

 the locality. 



Since the war, jays have increased to an extraordinary extent in the 

 districts with which I am most familiar, and may be seen at almost any time, 

 in fir forests, among the oaks, or in the meadows. The reason of their having 

 so multiplied is, of course, that the gamekeeping community generally took some 

 part in the war, and thus * vermin ' had a free run for a while, and hawks, 

 stoats, jays, magpies, hedgehogs, and so on multiplied amazingly. In this 

 respect they are the opposite of the little Red Squirrel, which used to be 

 quite common, but which now alas ! is very seldom seen. 



G 



