JAY. Class H. 



breast and belly are of a faint purple dashed* 

 with grey ; the covert feathers of the wings are 

 of the same color. The first quil feather is 

 black ; the exterior webs of the nine next are 

 ash-colored, the interior webs dusky : the six 

 next black, but the lower sides of their exterior 

 webs are white tinged with blue; the two next 



C 7 



wholly black ; the last of a fine bay color tipt 

 with black. The lesser coverts are of a light 

 bay; the greater covert feathers most beauti- 

 fully barred with a lovely blue, black and white ; 

 the rest black : the rump is white. The tail 

 consists of twelve black feathers. The feet 

 are of a pale brown; the claws large and 

 hooked. 



The nest is made entirely of the fine fibres of 

 roots of trees, but has for a foundation some 

 coarse sticks ; it is generally placed on the top 

 of the underwood, such as hazels, thorns, or 

 low birch. [It lays five or six eggs, of a dull 

 whitish olive, mottled very obscurely with pale 

 brown, and usually marked towards the large 

 end with two or three short irregular black lines.] 

 The young follow their parents till the spring : 

 in the summer they are very injurious to gardens, 

 being great devourers of pease and cherries ; in 

 the autumn and winter they feed on acorns, from 



