Genus GARRULUS. |

Gen. Cuar. Bell shorter than the head, conical, slightly compressed, straight at the base, rather
deflected towards the tip, which is faintly emarginated ; the lower mandible of nearly
equal thickness, and having its culmen equally convex with that of the upper; commissure

straight ; head crested. Nos¢ra/s basal, lateral, hidden from view by short setaceous plumes.

 

 

Wings rounded, with the first quill-feather short; the fourth, fifth and sixth of nearly equal
length, and the longest in the wing. Taz/ square or slightly rounded. Legs weaker than tI

in the genus Corvus. Tarsi longer than the middle toe; the outer toe joined at its base to WAI

 

the middle one, and longer than the inner; hind toe strong, with a dilated sole. Claws WHA
stout, moderately curved and sharp ; that on the hind toe stronger and longer than any |

of the rest.

 

 

 

JAY. il
Garrulus glandarius, Brass. WAT AI
HH

Le Gea.

 

Tis common but extremely ornamental bird is dispersed over the greater portion of the wooded districts of
Europe, and together with one from the Himalaya mountains, and another which we have seen, truly distinct
from either, form a small but well-defined group, which appears to range intermediate between the latter |
group and the Pies (Pice), to which the generic title Garrulus should be strictly limited, to the exclusion }

of the Blue Jay of America, and its nearly allied congeners, together with the Garrulus lanceolatus of the | |
Himalaya mountains. Thus circumscribed, the true Jays will be found to be exclusively peculiar to the Old | II |
World. WN

The Common Jay of Europe is a noisy, shy, and crafty bird, eluding observation by resorting continually
is almost entirely arboreal in its habits, seldom

 

 

 

to the more dense parts of woods and thick hedgerows, and
en it does, it is among thickets and bushes, which conceal it from view. Its

i

j

j

|

i

going on the ground, and wh |
season lasts, together with the i
tH}

chief subsistence consists of fruits, berries, and leguminous seeds, while the
larvee of insects, worms, grubs, &c., and occasionally the young and eggs of birds.
it extremely mischievous in gardens stocked with fruit trees and leguminous vegetables. |
The Jay is a permanent resident in our island, as well as in the temperate portions of Europe. It breeds | |
in the most secluded coppices and woods, constructing its nest in the fork of a tree; the nest being formed HN i

externally of small twigs, generally of the birch, and lined with fibres, roots, &c. The eggs are four or five WI
in number, of a pale blue, blotched with brown, but the markings are so numerous and minute as to produce |
a uniform dull grey.

At certain seasons the Jay assembles in small flocks, prob

associate during the winter, until spring leads them to separate into pairs,

Its propensities render

 

 

ably containing the brood of the year, which |
and commence the great work of Vi
|

|

incubation.
There exists no visible difference in the plumage of the male and female, an

closely assimilates to the adult in colouring. In captivity, this bird becomes a
familiar manners, and its aptness in learning words and even sentences.

Bill black, from the base of which a large moustache of the same colour extends over the cheeks ; the top | |
of the head is covered with a short full crest, the feathers of which are brownish grey, with a central dash of |
black, exhibiting as they pass to the occiput faint transverse bars of blue ; the whole of the upper surface, as
well as the under, is, with the exception of the upper and under tail-coverts (which are white), of a rich HAA
vinous or reddish ash colour ; wings ornamented with a beautiful blue speculum barred with black; the I] vA
shoulders chestnut barred with dusky brown; the primaries are silvery white on their eutey edges ; the Hi
secondaries are black, except the first three or four feathers, which are white at their base ; tail blacks, the two
middle feathers exhibiting faint indications of blue bars at their base; irides blueish grey ; tarsi brown.

The Plate represents the bird of the natural size. |
|

d the young at an early age | |
favourite, from its pert¥ and WH