JANUARY 31 



Jays noisy, gaudy, voracious jays hateful to Eng- 

 lish gamekeepers, have been surreptitiously turned 

 loose, and the Scottish yarde-chasse has not woke up 

 yet to their profligate nature, which, after all, is no 

 worse than a jackdaw's. When you have cleared the 

 country of ugly jackdaws, say I, it will be time to talk 

 of exterminating the handsome jay. 



We had some difficulty in establishing jays. First 

 we tried putting their eggs under blackbirds. There 

 was not the least difficulty in getting eggs; it was 

 quite remarkable how generous people in the south 

 showed themselves in the matter of jays' eggs. One 

 keeper in Surrey, hearing of my wants, set to work, 

 and collected about fifty; but as he was at the pains 

 to blow them all before sending them off, the consign- 

 ment did not greatly assist our scheme of acclimatisa- 

 tion. In the end, the desired object was attained by 

 the purchase of a dozen young jays from Mr. Bailey of 

 Mount Street, and now our woods resound with the 

 harsh chiding note of these and their offspring. 



