128 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



them one season others arrive from a distance. He is 

 particularly careful to look out for their nests, so as to 

 kill both the old birds and to prevent their breeding. 

 There is little difficulty in finding the nest (which is built 

 in a high tree) when the young get to any size ; their cry 

 is unmistakable and audible at some distance. 



Against sparrow-hawk and kestrel, and the rarer kinds 

 that occasionally come down from the mountains of the 

 north or the west — the magazines of these birds — the 

 keeper wages ceaseless war. 



So too with jay and magpie ; he shoots them down 

 whenever they cross his path, unless, as is sometimes the 

 case, specially ordered to save the latter. For the magpie 

 of recent years has become much less common. Though 

 still often seen in some districts, there are other localities 

 where this odd bird is nearly extinct. It does not seem 

 to breed now, and you may ask to be shown a nest in 

 vain. A magpie's nest in an orchard that I knew of was 

 thought so great a curiosity that every now and then 

 people came to see it from a distance. Irk other places 

 the bird may be frequently met with, almost always with 

 his partner ; and so jays usually go in couples, even in 

 winter. 



The jay is a handsome bird, whose chatter enlivens 

 the plantations, and whose bright plumage contrasts 

 pleasantly with the dull green of the firs. A pair will 

 work a hedge in a sportsmanlike manner, one on one side. 



