3 2o PERCHIXG BIRDS. 



colour speckled with brown. Although a shy bird, never dwelling in the open 

 country and seldom seen on the ground, the jay is thoroughly arboreal in its 

 habits; and, as its name implies, is especially fond of acorns and other forest 

 fruits. Nevertheless, when dwelling in woods bordering gardens, it is frequently 

 tempted forth during the fruit-season to plunder the latter. Not content, however, 

 with the vegetable diet, the jay rifles and destroys the nests of the smaller birds, 

 consuming both eggs and callow young alike ; while it also destroys a considerable 

 number of pheasants' eggs and chickens. In consequence of these thieving propen- 

 sities, the jay is most cordially detested by the gamekeeper, who seizes every 

 opportunity for shooting it ; and in many districts of England, owing to such 

 persecution, these handsome birds have become scarce. 



The jay flies with an undulating and somewhat heavy motion, accompanied 

 by much flapping of the wings : and generally takes only short flights from tree 

 to tree, although when on migration it can fly for long distances. Unlike the pre- 

 ceding members of the family, when on the ground, the jay progresses by hopping 

 instead of by walking. In its movements when perching, it is lively and apparently 

 self-conscious, the head being continually turned from side to side, the crest 

 alternately raised and depressed, and the wings and tail in motion. 



A characteristic bird of the north of the < >ld World is the Siberian 

 Jay (Perisoreus infaustus), figured on p. 31^. and distinguished 

 by the possession of a soft thirty plumage, well adapted to protect its owner 

 from an Arctic winter. The adult bird has the crown and nape sooty-brown, 

 gradually fading in tinge as it joins the colour of the back ; the upper-parts being 

 dull lead-grey, washed with reddish brown, and the rump and tail bright foxy red, 

 excepting fche two central tail feathers. The chin, throat, and breast are grey, while 

 the under-parts and flanks are bright rufous. The Siberian jay breeds early in 

 the year, building its nest close to the stem of a pine or fir tree, and forming it 

 principally of grey lichens closely interwoven with dry fir twigs, a few of its own 

 feathers and those of the ptarmigan being inserted here and there, as also stalks of 

 dry grass. The eggs vary in number from three to five, and in colour are dirty 

 white, blotched with purplish grey ami brown. Professor Newton writes : " More 

 sprightly and cunning birds than these jays cannot well be, whether caged or not. 

 In their own woods one hears their deep ringing kook, hook, hook, followed by a 

 series of noises which sound like a conversation earned on by two or three people 

 in an unknown tongue. One puts up a family-party off the ground where they 

 have been feasting on the berries, and away they go through the trees with their 

 wavering unsteady flight, every here and there a gleam of sunshine catching their 

 tails, and turning them into gigantic redstarts. Or when one halts for any 

 purpose, there conies a Siberian jay, at first stealthily ; but soon, if he sees no sign 

 of danger to liim, he displays himself openly, perching almost within arm's length, 

 ruffling his long, loose plumage, and calling to his neighbours." 

 Long-Crested A common bird in Western America, represented in Mexico by 



Jay. the bluer Mexican jay, is the long-crested jay (Oyanotitta macrolopka), 



which inhabits large pine forests. The upper-parts of this bird are sooty brown, 

 passing on the rump and upper tail-coverts into beautiful, light, cobalt blue, which 

 also occupies the lower parts. In habits it is cautious and cunning, displaying 



