THE JAY. 97 



and utter their cries. The alternate cry of Owl and Jay brings 

 more ; they fly on to the lime twigs, fall down, and are carried 

 by the weight through the roof of the hut. Other birds are 

 often attracted in this manner, and come to the rescueof the Jays ; 

 and Jays, Magpies,"Woodpeckers, Eedbreasts, and Thrushes, are 

 frequently caught at once. This mode of bird-catching may be 

 practised either at day-break or in the twilight. They are 

 also caught without difficulty in the water-trap by which 

 means young birds, with half- grown tails, may be obtained in 

 July. These are not too old to be tamed and taught to speak. 

 Attractive Qualities. The docility of the Jay is, as before 

 said, its chief recommendation. It may easily be taught to 

 speak, especially if the tongue-string be cut, though not more 

 than unconnected words ; it learns also to imitate little airs on 

 the trumpet, as well as the songs of several other birds. Its 

 beauty is to many amateurs a sufficient recommendation, but 

 it may also be taught to come and go at command though 

 this does not succeed, as with the other Corvine birds, in the 

 town, but only in the vicinity of fields and woods. 



ADDITIONAL. The Common Jay, Blue-winged Jay, Jay Pie, 

 and Jay Pyet, are the names by which we distinguish this handsome 

 bird, which, is pretty generally distributed throughout the wooded 

 parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland. MUDIE very justly 

 describes it as one of the most beautiful of our resident birds, 

 and says that "it is not one of which it is easy to get a sight 

 upon compulsion, as the more you follow it, it plunges the deeper 

 into the thick of the coppice. The best place for observing it 

 well, is where there are peas or cherries near its haunts, as it 

 feeds greedily upon these, and may then be watched for a longer 

 time than its wary habits will admit of under most circumstances. 



" Jays do not flock, neither have they meetings similar to those 

 of the Magpies, and some of those Crows that breed apart from 

 each other ; nor, though it has been observed in some instances, 

 has it been fully established that the young remain with the old 

 birds after they are fully fledged, and capable of finding their 

 own food. That is rather against the general analogy of their 

 natures, for they are much more predatory than the Magpies, 

 although considerably smaller. They are equally, if not more, 

 destructive of the eggs of small birds ; they catch mice, and they 

 occasionally pounce upon birds, and kill and devour them. 



" One of their most remarkable qualities is the volubility of their 

 sounds, and the readiness with which, when tamed, they can be 

 made to articulate. Their alarm note, which they utter upon the 



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