THE JAY 
of trees like those of the Crow and Magpie. To 
find it one must search sometimes in a thick bush, or 
in the lower branches of an oak. It is cup-shaped 
and open, built of twigs and sticks, sometimes 
plastered together with mud, while fine roots and 
dried grass make a soft lining. The eggs are rather 
smaller than those of the Magpie, and are five or six 
in number, of a greenish or yellowish white colour, 
and freckled over with light brown. 
The mother, though a very timid bird as a rule, 
sits so closely that one often has to shake the tree 
before she will leave. If one watches the Jay to her 
nest containing young, she will sometimes be seen to 
descend to the ground and search round carefully. 
Then, if she discovers anything alarming, she will fly 
off with a harsh squawk. 
The gape of the young bird is enormous. 
Surely there never was a more hungry mouth to fill ! 
One cannot look at the Baby Jay without hearing him 
utter his peculiar, hungry cry. 
The mother feeds her young by thrusting her 
beak into their throats and giving them food that 
she has already swallowed and brought back. 
When the Baby Jays leave the nest they stay 
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