At this time of year jays will make long excursions from their thickets
in the heart of the woods to sample the wheat crops. They go stealthily
to their stolen feasts in the early morning, so soon as the ears show
signs of turning, nipping off whole ears, and carrying them to some
thick hedge for leisurely consumption. If there is a case against jays,
there is much in favour of these handsome birds. They do far less harm
to game than rooks and other egg-stealers; they may be almost blameless
in the matter of game eggs, although when a pair of jays acquire the
egg-stealing habit they may clear off three or four hundred eggs in
a few days. Their most useful work is the destruction of pigeons'
eggs. Of course pigeons do no harm to game, except by clearing off
beech-masts and acorns, and the corn sprinkled in the wood; but the
damage they sometimes do in the cornfields is enormous, going far
to destroy perhaps two out of ten acres of wheat. Still, one must
remember that charlock buds, served up with pigeon's milk, form the
pigeons' favourite food for their nestlings.
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