240 WOODLAND CREATURES 



moss and fern-covered woodland floor, it is 

 equally striking and beautiful. 



When a party of jays are in a wood their 

 chattering wakes the echoes to life, and their 

 lovely colouring and gay plumage give a touch 

 of bright colour to the otherwise sombre scene. 

 Through the subdued greens of hazel, oak, and 

 ash, a jay passes like a glimpse of the tropics 

 strayed into our quiet English woods. To 

 describe its plumage in full detail would take 

 up too much space here, but as it passes on 

 the wing its conspicuous features are a white 

 rump and white marks on its wings, its pinkish 

 back, dark tail, and the flash of blue from the 

 wing coverts. So complicated is the patterning 

 that in the hand alone can the full beauty of the 

 bird be appreciated. It is then seen that its 

 bastard-wing, primary coverts, and outer 

 great coverts, are a lovely sky-blue, barred 

 with black, which black bars are narrowly 

 lined with white ; that the rest of the feathers 

 of the wings are beautifully marked and shaded, 

 varying from black to chestnut ; and that the 

 body plumage is a study in itself ; so that, 

 as already mentioned, it would need a long 

 description to deal fully with the numerous 

 details of markings and tints. But the bird 

 is so unmistakable that it will not be necessary 

 to enter upon any such minute description. 



The jay is essentially a bird of the wooded 

 country; now and again one may meet with it 

 away from its beloved trees, but as a rule it 



