The adult is of a deep, glossy blue black all over. Bill and legs cherry red. The sexes are alike and the young only differ in having the bill and legs dull orange. Length 16 in.; wing 10·7 in. This species is now only to be found in the wilder and more remote parts of the west of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. A few solitary pairs may still be found in some parts of England, but they are rapidly disappearing. THE NUTCRACKER Nucifraga caryocatactes (Linnæus) A few stragglers of this species have occasionally visited our east and south-east coasts in autumn, and at least two examples have been recorded from Scotland, but it has not so far visited Ireland. Fir forests in Scandinavia and Central Europe form the home of this bird, where it is resident and breeds early in the year while the snow is still on the ground. In appearance it is quite unlike any of our other species of Crow, being pale umber brown profusely spotted, except on the crown, with triangular white markings. Length 12 in.; wing 7·5 in. THE JAY Garrulus glandarius (Linnæus) Considering the ruthless war waged on this unfortunate species by every gamekeeper throughout the country, it is little short of marvellous that we can still hear his harsh scream in most of our woods. [Illustration: JAY _Garrulus glandarius_] He is very wary and cautious, and spends most of his time, except when actually feeding, on the tops of the trees, flying off with many protestations to another part of the wood on the least sign of danger. His great supposed sin is the destruction of the Pheasants’ eggs, though we doubt whether his depredations are sufficiently great to warrant his wholesale slaughter. The fox has been saved from extermination in the interests of hunting, and it is now conceded that, after all, his presence does not so greatly affect the interests of those whose sport lies with the gun rather than with the horse, and if only keepers could be taught to leave the Jay alone the loss of a few head of game, that would hardly be missed, would surely be more than compensated for by the sight of this beautiful species as he dodges through the wood in front of the beaters. No better watch-dog could be found, and many a trespasser will quit a wood owing to the tell-tale warning given by the Jay. Noisy and active as he is during the winter, he becomes in spring exceptionally quiet, and only when the nest is approached does he give any indication of his presence in the neighbourhood. The nest is generally placed some ten feet from the ground in the fork of a tender sapling and is made entirely of twigs and lined with fine roots. It is open and cup-shaped, and the eggs, small for the size of the bird, are pale green in ground colour very thickly mottled with olive brown with, generally a narrow black irregular line at the larger end. The young are