INSESSORES. 103 



of London the Magpie is a scarce bird, but in the 

 more wooded and retired districts of Mill Hill, 

 Edgewarebury, Brockley Hill, Bushey, Ruislip, and 

 Pinner, it may be observed more frequently. In 

 the autumn it is not an uncommon thing to see five 

 or six Magpies in company ; for the young remain 

 sometime with their parents after leaving the nest. 

 They roost together at night, and during the day 

 disperse in search of food. Mr. Yarrell has counted 

 twenty-eight Magpies together in Kensington Gar- 

 dens, and many instances are on record of still 

 larger flocks having been seen at evening.* I once 

 found a nest of this species containing the unusual 

 number of eight eggs, all marked exactly alike, and 

 apparently laid by the same bird. As a rule, five, 

 or at most six, is the full complement. 



JAY, Corvus glandarius. Resident throughout the 

 year, but nowhere numerous. I have noted this 

 species as occurring at Enfield, Mill Hill, Edge- 

 warebury, Stanmore, Elstree, Northolt, Harrow, 

 Wembley, and Kingsbury. In the autumn, Jays, 

 like Magpies, may be observed in little parties of 

 seven or eight, the young remaining with their 

 parents for some time after they have left the nest. 



They are noisy and quarrelsome birds, and seem 

 always at war, even with their own species. A 

 friend once killed, at the Well Springs, Kingsbury, 



* See ' Zoologist,' pp. 7817, 7846, 7931. 



