780 The Sparrow-like Birds 



is about twenty-four inches, of which some seventeen inches are taken up by the 

 handsome, much-graduated tail. In its habits, so we are told by Colonel A. T. 

 Grayson, it is a typical Jay, being addicted to mimicry, gesticulation, and a pro- 

 pensity for thieving, robbing birds' nests of eggs and young, etc. " It is generally 

 met with in the thick and voluptuous forest of the tierra caliente, near the Pacific 

 coast, where it is a common, though an interesting, bird to the traveler or native, 

 and generally elicits a full share of admiration as he appears conspicuous among 

 the numerous gaudy tenants of his native woods." The Magpie-Jay builds a 

 bulky nest composed of thorny twigs and lined with fibers of roots and grass ; 

 the eggs, according to Ridgway, are unknown to science. 



Jays. The Jays constitute a large and varied group (Garrulincz) of both 

 Old and New World birds in which the tail is nearly as long as, or sometimes 

 much longer than, the wing, which is comparatively short and rounded, with 

 the fifth to seventh quills longest. By the accident of discovery the typical 

 members of the subfamily are referred to the genus Garrulus, the dozen or 

 more species of which range throughout the western and temperate regions of 

 the Old World, the Jay par excellence being G. glandarius, which inhabits the 

 whole of Europe to about 64 north latitude and thence east to the Ural 

 and south to the Mediterranean. It is a rather handsome bird, nearly fourteen 

 inches long, with the general plumage a fine reddish brown, darker above, varied 

 with black, white, and beautiful blue, the head-crest being whitish, striped with 

 black. It frequents the dense foliage of woods and thickets as well as gardens 

 and hedgerows, and years of persistent persecution at the hands of man has 

 made it an exceedingly wary and suspicious bird, constantly moving about 

 and elevating, depressing, and flirting the wings and tail, and alternately rising 

 and lowering the crest and otherwise acting in a nervous and excitable manner. 

 When startled or annoyed, its cry is extremely loud, harsh, and discordant, 

 while at other times it has a number of lower monotonous nqtes, and is said 

 to even mimic other birds. It constructs a rather neat but bulky nest of sticks 

 and twigs, lined inside with rootlets, fine grass, etc., placing it in a bush or low 

 tree and well concealing it amidst the dense foliage. The five or six eggs are 

 grayish white or greenish gray, thickly spotted all over with pale brown. This 

 Jay has an extensive menu, feeding in summer on fruits, berries, and certain 

 garden vegetables, with insects, eggs, young birds, mice, etc., and in winter 

 on nuts, snails, insect larvae, and late berries. 



Blue Jay. As it will be impossible to adequately describe all the members of 

 this subfamily, we may select from among them a few of the best-known, begin- 

 ning with the handsome Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), which is one of the com- 

 monest and most beautiful birds of eastern North America. It is nearly a foot 

 in length, the upper parts being grayish blue and the lower parts dusky whitish, 

 with a black band on the forehead, sides of the neck and breast, the wings and 

 tail being bright blue, barred with black and white; the conspicuous crest is 

 nearly like the back. For the greater part of the year, as Bendire well states, 

 the Blue Jay is a more or less restless, noisy, and roving bird, moving in little 

 companies from one wood to another and making the welkin ring with its loud 



