THE JAY. 223 



with blue and black, and remarkably glossy ; the tail 

 is in general black, but there are some lighter bars 

 across the feathers ; and the legs are dull red, marked 

 with orange yellow. Some specimens have been seen 

 of a cream colour, with the wing covers dull blue, and 

 others white with the same parts light azure, which, 

 like many other of the accidental varieties of colour 

 in birds, have led those who do not watch their habits 

 carefully, to consider them as different species. 



The jay subsists more upon vegetables than most of 

 the family. Acorns, herbs, mast, the berries of the 

 service and the mountain ash, and the other small 

 fruits which are found in the woods being its chief sub- 

 sistence when they are in season. It also commits con- 

 siderable depredations among pease ; and eats cherries, 

 more especially the guigues, or wild black cherries. As 

 it does not frequent gardens at the time when the 

 cultivated cherries are in crop, unless they be in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of a wood, in which it can 

 shelter. Its young, while in the nest, are chiefly fed 

 upon worms, insects, and larvse, though it robs the 

 nests of the weaker birds both of their eggs and young, 

 and probably carries them to its own. 



As the jay builds in more secluded places than the 

 magpie, its nest does not need the same solid construc- 

 tion and defences. Its nest is accordingly a very rude 

 and simple fabric, made of twigs and a little grass, 

 but without any dome or plastering, or, indeed, any 

 very soft lining. The eggs are from four to seven in 

 number, and have a good deal of resemblance to the 

 eggs of the partridge, being grey, with spots of olive, 

 but having a slight greenish tinge all over. The very 



