Wherever this bird is found woods and gardens ring with the sound of its voice. Its usual cry sounds like “Matyash” (Hungarian for the name Matthias) by which name it is consequently often called in that country. It is an active, restless visitor to the bushes and gardens, when they are near a wood. It is not dainty and its voracity is great. Nuts, filberts, acorns, beechnuts, fruits, berries, but also insects from grubs upwards, grasshoppers, beetles,--everything finds its way into its crop. Such things as nuts and filberts, which have a hard shell, it collects in crevices and holes. All this is not so bad, but another of its habits is evil--it is a nest plunderer. Eggs, naked fledglings, half-fledged young, sitting on the edge of the nest awaiting the mother’s return--all become its prey. In order to reach them it squeezes through the thick growth of the whitethorn. In fact it is a shameful bird that deserves no consideration. If caught young and kept in a cage or running about the house, he is often found to be an amusing fellow, even if not quite tame,--and proves himself a perfect master in imitating the notes of other birds. In the first place he learns the noises of the domestic fowls and animals. He chirps like the little chickens, crows and cackles; then he howls like the dog, cries like the cat, squeaks like the unoiled hinges of a door, or a cart-wheel. He answers the Cock, like a cock, the goose, like a goose. His usual cry is a screeching “Retch” or “Rey”--or when in fear “Kay” or “Kray.” [Illustration: DOUBTFUL. THE JAY.] It is fairly numerous with us, and is on account of its brilliant plumage, an ornament of the woods. * * * * * In Great Britain the Jay finds little consideration, save from the makers of artificial flies, after he has been shot or trapped. The lovely blue wing-feathers are used by these men. Gamekeepers also show him scant mercy. Still he manages to hold his own in the woodlands and is fairly common in England and Wales. In Ireland its numbers are fast decreasing. On the east coasts large flocks sometimes arrive from the Continent to stay for a time; but the Jay is of course resident with us as a species.