158 BRITISH BIRDS 



Man, on the coast of Wales, and at Islay and a few other situations 

 on the coast of Scotland. 



In size, flight, language, habits, and general appearance, the 

 chough comes nearest to the jackdaw, but is a much handsomer bird, 

 its uniform intense black plumage and long, curved, coral bill, and 

 red legs and feet, giving it a distinguished and somewhat singular 

 appearance. Its cry, uttered both when perched and on the wing, 

 differs only from that of the daw in its more ringing and melodious 

 sound. The flight is easy and buoyant, and the birds are fond of 

 aerial pastimes, similar to those of the jackdaw, during which the 

 members of the company pursue one another in play, and frequently 

 tumble down from a great height through the air as if disabled 

 They feed inland, often going long distances from the cliffs they 

 inhabit to seek their food, like rooks, in the meadows and 

 pasture-lands. They also follow the plough to pick up the worms 

 and grubs, like the rook and black-headed gull, and are said to eat 

 carrion, berries, and grain. On the sands and rocks they feed on 

 the animal refuse left by the tides. 



The chough, like the daw, lives always in communities ; the two 

 species may often be found breeding near each other and associating 

 in flocks. The nest is placed in a hole or crevice in the rocks in 

 the least accessible part of the cliff. It is built of sticks and twigs, 

 and lined with grass, fur, wool, and other soft substances. Four 

 to six eggs are laid, in ground-colour white, faintly tinged with blue 

 or yellowish, and spotted and blotched with various shades of grey 

 and pale brown. 



Jay. 



Gamilus glandarius. 



Crest greyish white streaked with black; a black moustache 

 from the corners of the beak ; general plumage reddish grey, darker 

 above ; primaries dingy black ; secondaries velvet-black and pure 

 white ; inner tertials rich chestnut ; winglet and greater coverts 

 barred with black, white, and bright blue ; upper and under-tail- 

 coverts pure white ; iris bright blue ; beak black ; feet dark brown. 

 Length, thirteen and a half inches. 



The jay is nearly equal to the daw in size, and has a variegated 

 and beautiful plumage, and when seen flying across an open sunlit 

 space is nearly as conspicuous as a magpie. But among the dense 



