In the Brazils and Paraguay we find another species, whose whole plumage is a fine cerulean blue, with the exception of the head and throat, which are black. In China there is also a Magpie of beautiful cobalt-blue plumage; its two centre tail feathers are very long, barred with black, and tipped with pure white; the bill and legs are red. It is extremely shy, and occasionally seen in flocks. By the inhabitants it is frequently taught to speak.
The Jays (Corvus glandarius) have short bills, which are slightly notched at the tip; head rather large; feathers on the upper and anterior part of the head erectile when the bird is irritated; those feathers at the base of the upper mandible are stiff, with short barbs. It is not less shy than other members of the family, although it frequents gardens, where it feeds on beans and peas, of which it seems to be particularly fond. Its food, however, is not confined to fruit and vegetables, as it picks up worms, insects, the eggs of small birds, and crustacea, after the manner of Crows and Magpies. Naturally irascible and quarrelsome, they are nevertheless easily tamed when taken young, and soon learn to pronounce a few words. They abound in Europe and the Indies. The European Jay (Garrulus glandarius), [Fig. 218], is a pretty bird of soft and blended plumage, the feathers of the fore part of the head elongated, oblong, and erectile: its general colour is a delicate brownish red tinged with grey, approaching to purple on the back. The most conspicuous trait of the plumage is the patch of ultramarine blue, banded with blackish blue, on the primary coverts.
Fig. 218.—European Jay (Garrulus glandarius, Belon).
Fig. 219.—The Nut-cracker Crow (Nucifraga, Briss.).
The American variety of Jay is not quite as large as the European representative. Its plumage is less brilliant. In characteristics they are much alike, being equally mischievous and dreaded by the smaller feathered denizens at the period of nesting.
The Nut-cracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) is furnished with a long, strong, and straight bill, with which it can penetrate under the bark of trees when in search of insects, and open the cones of firs and pines, on the kernels of which it feeds; failing these, it eats the hazel-nut and wild fruit, from which circumstance its name is derived. They inhabit the mountain forests of Europe and Asia, building their nests in the trunks of trees, to which they are capable of clinging, but not of climbing.
Fig. 220.—European Roller (Galgulus, Briss.).