Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithology of Palestine. 63 
(Samaria), at Nablous, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron—its 
extreme southern limit, for south of this are neither woods nor 
oliveyards. It is most numerous at Kuryet el Enab (Kirjath 
Jearim), between Jerusalem and Jaffa, in the oliveyards of 
which it positively swarms. On the east side of Jordan it 
enlivens with its ringing chatter every forest-glade in Gilead, as 
well as the old olive-woods of Southern Bashan, and is one of 
the most abundant and conspicuous inhabitants of the country. 
We did not, however, observe it in the pine-forests of Ajlun, 
nor does it appear to straggle into the more open country 
south of the Jabbok. It is on both sides of Jordan entirely 
confined to the Hill country or Highlands, and never descends 
into the sultry Ghor or Jordan valley. Never once did we see 
or hear of it there, from the Waters of Merom in the north to 
the south end of the Dead Sea. There are woods and thickets 
which would seem well suited to its habits, but it shuns those 
seething hollows ; and though Dean Stanley peoples Gennesareth 
with “ Jays of brilliant plumage in unusual numbers over the 
entire plain,” he evidently, like the French sportsmen of Algeria, 
mistook the Roller—Geai d’Afrique,” or perhaps the Smyrna 
Kingfisher, for the Jay, which we can aver is never found near 
the Sea of Galilee. 
Less persecuted than its British congener, it is not quite so 
shy, but resembles it precisely in voice, flight, and all its habits. 
It usually congregates in flocks of six or eight. About the 
environs of Jerusalem it is especially familiar. I rarely carried 
a gun at Jerusalem; but one wet day I had ridden up from 
Jericho, and arrived just after the gates had been closed for the 
hour of noonday prayer. Sitting on my horse, in the soaking 
rain, outside the Damascus gate, some Jays came unconcernedly 
to feed among the refuse close to me. The opportunity was 
irresistible, and I secured two on the spot. 
The Jay is an early breeder; but we were occupied at Jericho 
during its season of nidification, and there it is not found. When 
we moved north, in April, the young were all hatched, and one 
nest of four eggs in an oliveyard close to Jerusalem was all we 
obtained. The eggs are exactly like those of G. glandarius , 
though my specimens are small, and rather rounder and shorter 
