THE JAY. 227 



a petty act of plunder into a downright commission 

 of felony. Forgetful of the caution which is its 

 peculiar characteristic at other seasons of the year, 

 the jay becomes remarkably daring and adventurous 

 in pea and cherry time. To this unlucky yearning 

 for the good things of the garden, I attribute the 

 general scarcity of this truly British bird. Even 

 here the jay is never abundant, though a safe retreat 

 is always open to it ; so that, whilst the magpie is 

 very numerous, it is comparatively a scarce bird. 

 Two or three nests, at most, are all I can annually 

 produce. These, by the way, I find are much more 

 compact, and better put together, than those which 

 naturalists have hitherto described. 



The nest of the jay is never seen near the tops 

 of trees, like those of the magpie and the crow. He 

 who feels inclined to study the nidification of this 

 bird must search the lower branches of the oak, or 

 inspect the woodbine mantling round the hazel. In 

 such situations he will find the nest, which mostly 

 contains six eggs ; and, if he advances with " cau- 

 tious step and slow," he may approach within a yard 

 of it before the sitting bird will take its flight. 



There seems to be an erroneous opinion current 

 concerning some birds, which are supposed to for- 

 sake their eggs if they are handled, be it ever in so 

 slight a manner. This requires some explanation. 

 If you rush up abruptly to a nest, so as to terrify 

 the old bird, you will find, with very few exceptions, 

 that it will forsake the place. If, on the contrary, 

 you approach the nest of any bird in gentleness and 

 silence, and allow the owner to slip off without being 

 Q2 



