THE JAY. 231 



place where he is straying, now hoarse and sonorous, 

 now lowered and subdued, and composed of modu- 

 lations almost approaching to those of song : they 

 are produced by ten or a dozen sprightly jays, as- 

 sembled in merry mimicry and glee, ere they depart 

 in pairs to select a place for approaching incubation. 

 This is the only period of the year in which the jay 

 shows a disposition to be social ; for, at other times, 

 it is a wandering solitary bird, and does not allow 

 its young to associate with it, after they have ar- 

 rived at a state to be able to provide for themselves. 

 Here, where the jay is encouraged and protected, 

 this part of its economy may be easily verified. 



This bird would probably not be noticed as having 

 anything remarkable either in shape or plumage, 

 were it not for the loveliness of its bastard wing 

 and greater covert feathers. The blue, the black, 

 and the white in them are so exquisitely blended, 

 that the eye is never tired with gazing on the co- 

 lours. Nothing can possibly be conceived more 

 charming. No other known bird in the creation 

 possesses such a rich exhibition of colouring in the 

 bastard wing and greater coverts. It belongs ex- 

 clusively to this one species of bird : it is the indu- 

 bitable and never-failing mark of the jay of Europe ; 

 a bird which will ever have a friend in me, notwith- 

 standing its acknowledged depredations in gardens 

 and in orchards. Its pilferings are of short dura- 

 tion : they are too trivial to cause uneasiness, and 

 of far too light a nature to demand the forfeiture 

 of life. 



