THE JAY. 195 



easy to represent them in so small a figure : the white roots 

 appear between the blue and black in the coverts ; the bluish 

 tinge is sometimes wanting in the forehead ; and the upper 

 part of the bird varies from brownish-purple to purplish- 

 brown. When it is in a state of excitement, both the tail 

 and the feathers on the crest are erected j and the pale grey 

 iris of the eye, contrasting with the deep mustaches, gives it 

 a ferocious, or at least an unsettled aspect. 



The jay, though a showy bird, is much more frequently 

 heard than seen, and 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. Its alarm note, which it utters 

 upon the appearance of anything that is dangerous, or even 

 strange in its haunts, is peculiarly harsh; but it has a love- 

 note in the early part of the season, which is not only soft, 

 but so low and apparently cautious, that it seems whispering 



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