OPEN NESTS 173 



soft stems of green weeds. The nests of the Jays 

 introduce us to another and somewhat different type 

 of corvine architecture. The true Crows breed prin- 

 cipally on the higher forest trees and on rocks, but 

 the Jays form their nests in brushwood, hedgerows, 

 and lower vegetation generally, never resorting to 

 cliffs. They are pre-eminently woodland birds. The 

 nest of the Common Jay {Garnilus glandarius), a 

 species common in many parts of the British 

 Islands, may be taken as fairly typical. A site for 

 this is usually selected in some tall bush or sapling, 

 especially in a holly, yew, or other evergreen, or 

 amongst a clustering mass of woodbine, and other 

 trailing plants. The outer structure is composed of 

 small sticks, the slenderer twigs being used as the nest 

 approaches completion, these being sometimes bound 

 together here and there with mud, whilst the final 

 lining is formed of roots. Although bulky, the nest 

 of the Jay is neatly made, and the cup is deep and 

 well finished. Lastly, we may briefly notice the nests 

 of the Nutcrackers {Nucifraga). These birds are also 

 forest dwellers. The Common Nutcracker {N. caryo- 

 catades) breeds in pine and fir forests, commencing 

 usually before the snow has melted off the ground. 

 It places its nest at a height of from fifteen to thirty 

 feet from the ground, in a fir, spruce, or pine tree, on 

 one of the nearly horizontal branches close to the 

 trunk. It is an open, somewhat flat, structure, com- 

 posed externally of twigs from the surrounding trees, 



