58 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
exact imitation of the human voice, which the hoarse raven 
and parrot can counterfeit more exactly. 
There are some foreign birds of this species, but they are 
scarcely deserving of notice. 
To this tribe we may refer the Jay, which is one of the 
most beautiful of the firitish birds. The forehead is white, 
streaked with black ; the head is covered with very long fea- 
thers, which it can erect into a crest at pleasure; the whole 
neck, back, breast, and belly, are of a faint purple, dashed 
with grey; the wings are most beautifully barred with a 
lovely blue, black, and white; the tail is black, and the 
feet of a pale brown. Like the magpie it feeds upon fruits, 
will kill small birds, and is extremely docile. 
Many of the foreign birds of the jay kind are exceedingly 
beautiful. The Chinese jay is of two kinds, the red-billed 
and that with a bluish bill. They are both elegant birds, 
their plumage being finely varied with patches of a fine vel- 
vet black, particularly about the head and throat. The Pe- 
ruvian jay is of a tender green, which, by insensible shades, 
assumes a bluish cast in different parts of the body. The 
brown jay of Canada and ihe Siberian jay, are less remark- 
able. At Cayenne there are two other remarkable species, 
one of which has three white spots on each side of the 
head ; and the other, which is called the yellow-bellied jay, 
is further distinguished by a golden streak upon the crown 
of the head. 
The Nut cracker is by some naturalists considered as of a 
distinct genus, by others it is classed with the crow ; though 
in its manners it most resembles the jay, laying up a store'of 
nuts and acorns, and inhabiting the pine forests like that 
bird. It is the size of a magpie, and the general colour of its 
plumage is a rusty brown, marked with triangular white 
spots. I hey are very plenty in Germany, and are rarelv 
seen in England. 
The Roller is a genus of birds not less conspicuous 
for beauty than any that has been mentioned. The Garru- 
lous Roller, so called from its chattering noise, is the only 
species with which the inhabitants of Europe are acquainted. 
I t is the size of a jay. The head, neck, and breast are of a 
light bluish green ; the upper part of the body of a reddish 
brown ; the tail is forked, and of a light blue; the legs are 
remarkably short. It is a bird of passage, which, however, 
seldom visits England. 
