My Jay was taken from the parent nest, built on the stem of an
ivy-covered tree which had been blown down in the winter. A young jay is
a curious-looking creature: the exquisite blue wing feathers begin to
show before the others are more than quills; the eyes are large and
bright blue, and when the great beak opens it shows a large throat of
deepest carmine, so that it possesses the beauty of colour from its
earliest days, and when full grown and in fine plumage it is one of the
handsomest of our birds. In its babyhood my jay was much like other
young things of his kind, always clamouring for food, and seeming to
care for little else, but as he grew up he attached himself to me with a
wonderful strength of affection which entirely reversed this order of
things, for whenever I came into the room he was restless and unhappy
until I came near enough for him to feed me, he would look carefully
into his food-trough, and at last select what he thought the most
tempting morsel, and then put it through the bars of his cage into my
mouth. He would sometimes feed other people, but as a rule he disliked
strangers, and I have known him even take water in his beak and squirt
it at those who displeased him. On the whole, a jay is not a very
desirable pet; he is restless in a cage, and too large to be quite
convenient when loose in a room; again, his great timidity is a
drawback--the least noise, the sight of a cat or dog, puts him in a
nervous fright, and he flutters about with anxious notes of alarm. He
is seen to best advantage hopping about on a lawn, where he may be
attracted by acorns being strewn in winter and spring. It is a pity that
his marauding habits in game preserves lead to his being so ruthlessly
shot by gamekeepers till it is almost a rare sight to see the handsome
bird and hear his note of alarm in the woods. One morning I saw a jay on
the lawn near the house, and rather wondering as to what he was seeking,
in a minute or two I saw him pounce upon a young half-fledged bird and
carry it off in his beak, a helpless little baby wing fluttering in the
air as he flew away. Their sight is wonderfully keen, and their cunning
is amusing to watch as they steal by careful steps nearer and nearer to
their prey, and at last by a sudden dart secure it and make off in rapid
flight.
[Illustration: THE JAY.]
After a year or two my poor jay met with a very sad fate. A garden-party
was to take place, and knowing the jay's terror of any unusual noise or
upstir, I carried his cage to a quiet room where I hoped he would be
quite happy and hear nothing.
I, however, did not happen to notice that, later on, the band had
established their quarters near this room, and I suppose the unwonted
sounds drove the poor bird into a wild state of terror, and that in his
flutterings he had caught his leg in the bars of the cage; anyway, I
went up about the middle of the party to see how my pet was faring, when
I found him in utter misery clinging to the bars, his thigh dislocated
and his leg hopelessly broken. It was a mournful duty to carry him away
to merciful hands that would end his torture by an instant death. For
many a day I missed that bright, handsome birdie who had always a
welcome for me and the offer of such hospitality as his cage afforded.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: A YOUNG CUCKOO.]
[Illustration]