160 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



there is the quiet of the fields to be enjoyed, the cool 

 breeze that sets the barley rippling, the perfumes of 

 corn crops, charlock, clover, turnips, and swedes. 

 In a duck country, barley-fields, left standing as 

 they are until dead ripe and after wheat and oats 

 have been harvested, may suffer severely from 

 their nocturnal visitors. 



At this time of year jays will make long excursions 



from their thickets in the heart of the woods to 



sample the wheat crops. They go stealthily 



The to their stolen feasts in the early morning, 



Thieving , . % . 



j a y so soon as the ears show signs of turning, 



nipping off whole ears, and carrying them 

 to some thick hedge for leisurely consumption. 

 If there is a case against jays, there is much in 

 favour of these handsome birds. They do far less 

 harm to game than rooks and other egg-stealers ; 

 they may be almost blameless in the matter of game 

 eggs, although when a pair of jays acquire the egg- 

 stealing habit they may clear off three or four hun- 

 dred eggs in a few days. Their most useful work is 

 the destruction of pigeons' eggs. Of course pigeons 

 do no harm to game, except by clearing off beech- 

 masts and acorns, and the corn sprinkled in the 

 wood ; but the damage they sometimes do in the 

 cornfields is enormous, going far to destroy perhaps 

 two out of ten acres of wheat. Still, one must 



