196 OMNIVOR.E. 



to its mate, as if to hide their affections and their labours 

 from the other tenants of the grove. Even there it is very 

 imitative, and though it does not attempt the songs of the 

 warblers, it is very adroit at bleating, screaming, neighing, 

 and, in short, imitating all the harsher sounds. What purpose 

 these may answer, whether to scare or invite, or mislead 

 other birds, is not known. The soft note is, in the warmer 

 parts of the country, often heard again toward the latter part 

 of the season, because there the jays have often two broods 

 in the year; and it seems to be in such places only that the 

 family keep together during winter. 



The first incubation is toward the end of May, the nest 

 being begun about the first of that month. It is better built 

 than that of the rook, but less carefully lined than the crow's, 

 or generally than the magpie's, and it has no walls and roof 

 like the latter. The platform is of sticks, and the immediate 

 receptacle for the eggs, which is shallow, is of grass and 

 roots. The eggs are about the same in number as those of 

 the magpie; the incubation lasts about two weeks, and the 

 young acquire their plumage in July. 



The jay is, for its size, remarkable for the rapacity of its 

 appetite and the wideness of its swallow, and eats acorns, 

 nuts, and chesnuts entire; but there are other substances of 

 which it makes more of a bonne louche. It is very partial to 

 the flowers of the cruciferse, which it pulls slowly and care- 

 fully, petal by petal. It is a restless and inquisitive bird, and 

 sometimes gets itself torn, or jammed between branches, in 

 its ramblings. When nests, and fruits on and under the 

 trees fail it, it hunts among the fallen leaves, and often plun- 

 ders the hoards of small quadrupeds ; but as it does not come 

 far from the woods, even in the coldest weather, it must be 

 subject to many casualties, which accounts for the limited 

 numbers compared with the fecundity of the birds. 



Words in which the letter r occurs, are soonest learned, not 



