JAY.
GARRULUS GLANDARIUS {Linn.).
Corvus glandarius, Linn. S. N. i. p. 156 (1766); Naum. ii.
p. 122.
Garrulus glandarius, Macg. i. p. 576 ; Hewitson, i. p. 237;
Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 323; Dresser, iv. p. 481.
Geai ordinaire, French; Eichel-Heher, German; Arren-
dajo, Gayo, Spanish.
This beautiful -bird is tolerably common in the woodlands
of England, less so in Scotland, and somewhat,
rare and very local in Ireland. Very large numbers of
Jays occasionally visit this country in late autumn and
winter from the continent, but such visits are very
irregular in their occurrence, and I am not acquainted
with any evidence in favour of a return migration.
The Jay is a most crafty and wary bird, and though
sufficiently noisy and conspicuous in autumn and winter,
in the breeding-season it is almost mute and very
cautious about showing itself. The nest is generally
well concealed; the eggs, generally five or six, are laid
in April, and many young Jays are flying before the end
of May. Our bird is almost omnivorous, but I like him
so well that I will leave the record of his offences to
other writers. No British bird of my acquaintance is so
imitative of sounds of all sorts as the Jay, and often I
have been entirely deluded and misled by one of these
wily and most amusing impostors.
A very large number of Jays breed in the district of
Northamptonshire with which I am best acquainted,
but whenever we have an abundant crop of acorns or
beech-mast, we are visited by flocks of foreign-bred birds
of this species in October and November.
Garrulus glandarius (Linn.)