244 WOODLAND CREATURES 



really distasteful ? Is their flesh so bitter that 

 hawks and owls will not eat them ? My expe- 

 rience is that birds of prey would rather have 

 other food, but will eat them if they cannot 

 get anything else. I have seen, it is true, a 

 wild sparrow hawk chase and knock down a 

 jay. Against this it must be mentioned that 

 trained sparrow hawks would not touch the 

 flesh of either jays or magpies, when it was offered 

 to them as food, unless they were exceedingly 

 hungry, and even when " sharp-set " did not 

 eat it with any relish. A tame tawny owl 

 would not look at either bird, a goshawk, 

 too, refused them ; and as regards carnivorous 

 mammals, foxes likewise seem to have a distaste 

 for them ; so, on the whole, the evidence appears 

 to confirm the idea that they are not very 

 acceptable to the predatory birds and beasts. 

 Still it does not follow that their bright colours 

 have been specially evolved to advertise the 

 fact : it may merely be a question of being able 

 to afford such hues, because they are not so 

 palatable as to need special concealment; in 

 fact, it does not matter whether they are seen 

 or not. 



For the greater part of the year neither the 

 magpie nor the jay attempt to keep out of sight, 

 but both flaunt boldly through the trees, as if rejoic- 

 ing in their brave attire. For sheer " swank " 

 and " swagger," however, we must undoubtedly 

 award the prize to the magpie, which, when 

 hopping about on the ground, seems the personi- 



