C. monedula, the jackdaw. These birds are about the size of a small pigeon, though not quite so thick. In England they are stationary ; in France, Austria, and Denmark, in different degrees, mi gratory. They rarely build their nests in trees, preferring the ruins of human habitations, or of churches and towers, where their eggs and young are more beyond the reach of depredating school boys. They lay in rabbit holes. They are domesticated with great facility, and may be taught to utter a considerable number of words. They are, like the raven, much addicted to concealment and pilfering, hiding not only their food, but a variety of toys and trinkets, a circumstance which has not unfrequently brought suspicion and diggrace upon the most honest and faithful domestics. See Ayes, Plate IV. fig. 5.
C. glandarius, the jay. The jay weighs .about seven ounces, and is about thirteen inches long. Its colours are beautifully ar ranged, and it attracts by its appearance that favourable and delighted attention, .which is somewhat counteracted by its harsh and chattering sounds. It is re garded by the sportsman with no little aversion, as its vigilance is ever upon the alert, and on the first sight of an enemy it titters those screaming sounds of alarm, which warn all within its reach of danger, and defeat the hopes and aims of their ad versary. Its nest is built of sticks, roots, and tender twigs, in the Woods, and the young continue with their parents till the following season, when they withdraw and form establishments of their own. Jays feed on almost all sorts of seeds and fruits, on nuts and acorns, and occasionally on eggs, and even chickens. They are some times kept in a cage, but almost uniformly lose in this confinement all the beauty of their plumage. They will imitate with great ease and accuracy a variety of sounds, and articulate a considerable number of words ; and, by this acquired talent, have sometimes produced consi derable mischief, setting on dogs to worry cattle, calling the dogs by their names, in imitation of the shepherd's voice ; and they appear greatly to enjoy the specta cle of confusion and distress which they • thus produce. This jay is not found in
the south, beyond Greece or Italy, and is unknown in Ireland and America. See Ayes, Plate IV. fig. 6.
C. pica, the magpie. This bird is ex tremely common in England, and is found in most countries between Sweden and Italy in Europe. In America it has not been long known, but was discovered in considerable numbers by Lewis and Clarke on the Missouri, and by Pike ; and by the testimony of these travellers it does not appear to be migratory, as the latter met with them when the degree of cold was excessive ; where this bird abounds, the blue jay (C. cristatus) is not found. Though its colours consist only of black and white, yet these are attended with such extraordinary bloom and radi- ' ance, that the plumage of one seen in a perfect state of nature will excite a very high sensation of beauty. It may easily be brought up in a state of domestication, and will speak with great ease many phrases with all the readiness of the par rot, though not with his distinct and ac curate enunciation. It feedsmuch like the crow on promiscuous substances. It con structs its nest with bottom dexterity, not only covering the bottom with materi als of a soft and downy texture, for the comfort of its young, but fixing the en trance at the side, and wattling, of appro priate substances, a complete roof for its habitation, which is thus rendered warm, dry, and secure.
C. graculus,,the red-legged crow, is common on the coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall, England ; in Kent. Wales, and Scotland also, it is to be found. It is a turbulent, bold, and clamorous bird, builds every where in rocky situations, is voracious, and often seen snatching from its companions locusts or juniper berries, which constitute itsfavourite food. It flies in circles, and resembles the jackdaw in some particulars of its manners, being equally prone to pilfer and hide. It is fond of glare, and has been known to snatch up burning sticks from the hearth, and place them in situations, where, if unobserved, they must have produced destructive conflagrations.