. Birds of Britain . own nativerace, we suspect that it is largely owing to these immigrationsthat we can still number the Jay as one of our commonindigenous birds. The general colour of the nape, mantle, and under partsis vinous brown. Crown of the head whitish streakedwith black; malar stripe black. Chin, rump, and undertail coverts white; tail and primaries black, the latter withwhite outer margins. Secondaries black, the outermost fivewith white bases. Wing coverts barred white, black, andblue. Length 1425 in.; wing 7*2 in. The sexes andyoung are all alike in plumage. This species is gener
. Birds of Britain . own nativerace, we suspect that it is largely owing to these immigrationsthat we can still number the Jay as one of our commonindigenous birds. The general colour of the nape, mantle, and under partsis vinous brown. Crown of the head whitish streakedwith black; malar stripe black. Chin, rump, and undertail coverts white; tail and primaries black, the latter withwhite outer margins. Secondaries black, the outermost fivewith white bases. Wing coverts barred white, black, andblue. Length 1425 in.; wing 7*2 in. The sexes andyoung are all alike in plumage. This species is generally distributed, except in the northof Scotland and Ireland, where it becomes scarce. It is perhaps worthy of note that in the Jays and Crowswhich build open nests, the nestlings have dark-colouredmouths with no marked light edging, whereas in the Jack-daw, that breeds in holes, the sides of the mouth areenlarged and whitish in colour and show up conspicuouslyin the semi-darkness of their home. 58 MAGPIEPica rustica. The MagpieTHE MAGPIE Pica rustica (Scopoli) This is another species against whom every mans handin this country is raised. Being much less a bird of thewoods and preferring to make its home in high trees growingin hedgerows, or even in tall hedges, it has unfortunatelysuffered much more than the Jay and is now very localin its distribution. Bold and omnivorous, it finds littledif&culty in procuring a livelihood, and if it settles in theneighbourhood of a poultry or game farm it must be con-ceded that it will do considerable damage. On the otherhand, it will also destroy countless worms, slugs, mice,and even young rats, so that it is by no means whollymischievous, and in other countries where it is unmolestedit becomes very tame and confiding, nesting in farm-yardsor even in the towns, and those countries seem but littlethe worse for its presence. A fine showy bird, it is apleasure to see him as he flies with rapid beats of his shortwings across some field, rattlin
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