ORDER PASSERES. 33.5 



behind the ear there arises a long crest of erect feathers, 

 which gives an additional beauty to this otherwise beautiful 

 bird. 



The Jays differ from the pies principally in the bill, which 

 is more hooked, and in having some long loose feathers on 

 the crown of the head, which are erected when the birds are 

 excited ; the tail, moreover, in these birds, is longer and more 

 graduated. They may almost be said to be omnivorous, 

 living in general in the woods, but occasionally resorting to 

 gardens and cultivated lands, to both of which they are 

 injurious and destructive, as well by what they eat at the 

 time, as by what they carry off to increase their hidden 

 stores. In summer they live in pairs, but in the opposite 

 season assemble in small groups. They advance on the 

 ground always by leaps, and seldom or never walk. In dispo- 

 sition they are very irascible, petulant, and inquisitive, and 

 take their scientific generic name, garrulus, from their con- 

 stant loquacity. The nest is built in trees, generally at 

 about half-way from the bottom, of sticks, interlaced together 

 on the outside, cased within with mud, and lined with dry 

 grass and fibres : the entrance to it is at the side. The eggs 

 are white, spotted with brown and grey, and are from six 

 to eight in number. 



The common jay does not seem to be very generally or 

 exclusively located, and is partially migratory from the 

 west and northern parts of Europe to the south east, as the 

 islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and also Egypt, Syria, 

 &c. Though many are thus said to migrate, it is neverthe- 

 less clear that some continue in our own country and in 

 France the whole year. 



The Red-hilled Jay is a very splendid bird. The bill and 

 feet are red ; the neck and breast are black ; the crown of 

 the head dotted blaCk and white ; body, above and beneath, 

 ashen ; of the tail-feathers, the two intermediate are much 



