572 BRITISH BIRDS. 



siderable elevation above its native woods, and, suddenly closing its wings, 

 to shoot downwards like an arrow into the cover below. Although capable 

 of long-sustained flight, in this country it rarely flies far, preferring to go 

 from tree to tree or to pursue its way through the tangled undergrowth. 

 When perched in a tree the Jay sits well upright, its tail sometimes 

 wafted to and fro, its head constantly turned from side to side, and its 

 crest erected or depressed, its restless actions showing its wanness and 

 timidity at being so far from cover. When thus perched the Jay can 

 sometimes be approached very closely ; and it is a noteworthy fact that 

 singularly beautiful and conspicuous as the bird's plumage is, it is rarely 

 seen until its harsh note proclaims its departure to a safer retreat. 



Like all its congeners, the Jay wins no favour from the game-preserver 

 or gardener, although there is little doubt that its ill-deeds are greatly 

 exaggerated by its persecutors. In summer, when the garden-fruits are 

 ripe, the Jay appears to overcome its wariness and ventures near our 

 houses to satisfy its appetite for this fare. In the game-coverts it is 

 charged, and with some reason, with the serious offence of devouring 

 young Pheasants and sucking the eggs not only of small birds but also of 

 game. This makes the keeper its sworn enemy, who never loses a chance 

 to shoot or trap a Jay. Dixon has seen the Jay in close pursuit of a 

 Great Titmouse, who only escaped capture by taking refuge in a thick 

 bush; and on other occasions he has seen it strike at small birds, only 

 apparently deterred from following up the chase by the presence of a 

 human being. In autumn the Jay is extremely fond of acorns, beech- 

 mast, and nuts, which it will sometimes hide in holes of the ground or in 

 crevices, burying one here and there ; but whether the bird ever returns 

 to these buried stores is difficult to say. In winter the Jay subsists upon 

 whatever it can find. At this season it may often be seen clinging to the 

 sides of pea- and bean-stacks ; and if hard pressed, carrion will not be 

 refused. In the early part of the year the Jay is indeed the farmer's and 

 gardener's friend; for he lives almost entirely on worms, grubs, and 

 noxious insects, searching for them both in the open pastures and under 

 hedges and bushes perhaps, by the way, the only time the Jay visits the 

 ground, where it is not seen to walk, like the true Crows, but to pursue its 

 way in a series of hops. 



It is very probable that Jays pair for life. At all seasons they may be 

 observed in pairs; and the noisy gatherings of these birds early in 

 the year, probably for the purpose of pairing, are most likely composed of 

 single birds and the young of the previous season. Further, pairs of these 

 birds will frequent one locality and regularly nest in certain places, pro- 

 vided you do not molest them. In April, when the woodlands are rapidly 

 becoming dense and secluded under a thick canopy of foliage, the Jay 

 searches out a site for its nest. This is rarely at any great height from 



