He is very wary and cautious, and spends most of his time, except when actually feeding, on the tops of the trees, flying off with many protestations to another part of the wood on the least sign of danger. His great supposed sin is the destruction of the Pheasants’ eggs, though we doubt whether his depredations are sufficiently great to warrant his wholesale slaughter. The fox has been saved from extermination in the interests of hunting, and it is now conceded that, after all, his presence does not so greatly affect the interests of those whose sport lies with the gun rather than with the horse, and if only keepers could be taught to leave the Jay alone the loss of a few head of game, that would hardly be missed, would surely be more than compensated for by the sight of this beautiful species as he dodges through the wood in front of the beaters. No better watch-dog could be found, and many a trespasser will quit a wood owing to the tell-tale warning given by the Jay. Noisy and active as he is during the winter, he becomes in spring exceptionally quiet, and only when the nest is approached does he give any indication of his presence in the neighbourhood. The nest is generally placed some ten feet from the ground in the fork of a tender sapling and is made entirely of twigs and lined with fine roots. It is open and cup-shaped, and the eggs, small for the size of the bird, are pale green in ground colour very thickly mottled with olive brown with, generally a narrow black irregular line at the larger end. The young are chiefly fed on insects, spiders, and grubs, but this species is practically omnivorous and nothing comes amiss, large numbers of berries being eaten in winter. In this country he is strictly resident, rarely wandering far from the woods which formed his summer home, but in the northern parts of his range on the Continent he migrates, sometimes in considerable flocks, some of which visit our shores in autumn, and although these Continental birds are said to be distinguishable from our own native race, we suspect that it is largely owing to these immigrations that we can still number the Jay as one of our common indigenous birds.
The general colour of the nape, mantle, and under parts is vinous brown. Crown of the head whitish streaked with black; malar stripe black. Chin, rump, and under tail coverts white; tail and primaries black, the latter with white outer margins. Secondaries black, the outermost five with white bases. Wing coverts barred white, black, and blue. Length 14·25 in.; wing 7·2 in. The sexes and young are all alike in plumage.
This species is generally distributed, except in the north of Scotland and Ireland, where it becomes scarce.
It is perhaps worthy of note that in the Jays and Crows which build open nests, the nestlings have dark-coloured mouths with no marked light edging, whereas in the Jackdaw, that breeds in holes, the sides of the mouth are enlarged and whitish in colour and show up conspicuously in the semi-darkness of their home.
MAGPIE
Pica rustica
THE MAGPIE
Pica rustica (Scopoli)
This is another species against whom every man’s hand in this country is raised. Being much less a bird of the woods and preferring to make its home in high trees growing in hedgerows, or even in tall hedges, it has unfortunately suffered much more than the Jay and is now very local in its distribution. Bold and omnivorous, it finds little difficulty in procuring a livelihood, and if it settles in the neighbourhood of a poultry or game farm it must be conceded that it will do considerable damage. On the other hand, it will also destroy countless worms, slugs, mice, and even young rats, so that it is by no means wholly mischievous, and in other countries where it is unmolested it becomes very tame and confiding, nesting in farm-yards or even in the towns, and those countries seem but little the worse for its presence. A fine showy bird, it is a pleasure to see him as he flies with rapid beats of his short wings across some field, rattling out his cheery chatter as he goes. What a perky chap he looks as he struts about on the fallow, or, having had his attention drawn by a strange object some yards off, approaches it with a few long hops and then with characteristic caution stops to examine it from a distance. Satisfied that it is harmless, he stalks to it with slow majestic walk, his head held high in the air and slightly inclined to one side; then suddenly he sees us—a harsh chatter and off he goes to the nearest cover. The nest is a huge domed structure substantially built of twigs, those with sharp spikes or thorns being used for preference. Inside, a deep cup is made of mud, and inside this again is placed a thick lining of grass. The eggs are six in number and of a bluish colour irregularly dotted, mottled, or splashed with olive brown. It is a strictly resident bird, rarely wandering far from its accustomed haunts and frequently going about in pairs.
The whole bird is glossy black with bluish and green reflections, except for the scapulars and belly, which are white. The rump is greyish. Length, including tail, 18 in.; tail 10 in.; wing 7·75 in. The sexes and young are all much alike in plumage.