THE JAY. 
227 
I a petty act of plunder into a downright commission 
of felony. Forgetful of the caution which is its 
peculiar characteristic at other seasons of the year, 
the jay becomes remarkably daring and adventurous 
in pea and cherry time. To this unlucky yearning 
for the good things of the garden, I attribute the 
general scarcity of this truly British bird. Even 
here the jay is never abundant, though a safe retreat 
is always open to it ; so that, whilst the magpie is 
very numerous, it is comparatively a scarce bird. 
Two or three nests, at most, are all I can annually 
produce. These, by the way, I find are much more 
compact, and better put together, than those which 
^naturalists have hitherto described. 
The nest of the jay is never seen near the tops 
of trees, like those of the magpie and the crow. He 
who feels inclined to study the nidification of this 
bird must search the lower branches of the oak, or 
inspect the woodbine mantling round the hazel. In 
such situations he will find the nest, which mostly 
contains six eggs ; and, if he advances with " cau- 
tious step and slow," he may approach within a yard 
of it before the sitting bird will take its flight. 
There seems to be an erroneous opinion current 
concerning some birds, which are supposed to for- 
sake their eggs if they are handled, be it ever in so 
slight a manner. This requires some explanation. 
If you rush up abruptly to a nest, so as to terrify 
the old bird, you will find, with very few exceptions, 
that it will forsake the place. If, on the contrary, 
you approach the nest of any bird in gentleness and 
silence^ and allow the owner to slip off without being 
Q 2 
