JAY (OF. jai, gai, gay, Fr. geai, from OF. gai, gay, from OHG. gāhi, Ger. gähe, jähe, quick). A popular English name for a considerable number of birds of the family Corvidæ. They are sometimes separated from the crows as a special subfamily, the Garrulinæ, but it is difficult to define the group satisfactorily. The jays have the wings shorter than the tail, which is long, and rounded, or even graduated, and they are generally, but not always, brightly colored, some shade of blue being very characteristic. But these characters will not serve to distinguish them from the magpies, which are very near allies, the so-called ‘blue magpies’ of the Old World forming an evident connecting link. Jays are smaller than crows and are more distinctly arboreal; when on the ground, they hop. The jays of the Old World belong to distinct genera from those of America, with the single exception of Perisoreus, which is circumpolar.
The bird to which the name ‘jay’ was originally
given is the common jay of Europe (Garrulus
glandarius), which is somewhat over a foot
in length, and beautifully colored, being
vinaceous gray varied with black and white, with
exquisite black, white, and blue markings on the
wings; the head is provided with a conspicuous
black-marked crest. It is a common British bird, although its numbers have diminished under the persistent attacks of gamekeepers.
. The best-known American bird of
this subfamily is the blue jay { Cyanocitta
cristata), which is somewhat smaller than its
European cousin, and is provided with equally beautiful
plumage. The general color above is
purplish-blue, and beneath dusky-white; forehead, and a yoke-shaped band on the sides of the neck and across the upper breast, black; wings and tail blue, beautifully variegated with black and white. The blue jay is found throughout Eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Hudson Bay, south to Florida and the Gulf, and west to the Plains. It breeds throughout its range, and is only partially migratory. As spring approaches the blue jay becomes a quieter, more domestic and retiring bird, and prepares for the breeding season. The nest is well built of twigs and roots, lined with rootlets, and usually placed in a tree in the woods or an old orchard, at some distance from a house. The eggs are four or five in number, brownish-olive or ashy-green, thickly marked with rather indistinct spots of a darker shade. It is during and after the breeding season that the blue jay's worst traits come to light, for then he becomes an inveterate robber of birds' nests, and devours both eggs and young with avidity. At such times he is quiet, sly, and cowardly. Later in the summer insects, nuts, fruits, and seeds form the staples of his diet, and in the winter he will eat almost anything. The notes of the blue jay are numerous and variable; he is a mimic and somewhat of a ventriloquist, but he is not a singer, and most of his cries are harsh and discordant. The blue jay delights in attacking owls and squirrels. While not truly gregarious, blue jays often travel about in small companies, especially during the winter.
. Several other species
of jay occur in North America, variously
subdivided by ornithologists into a dozen or more
subspecies. One of the most distinct and easily
recognized species is the Canada jay, ‘whisky-jack,’
or ‘moose-bird’ (Perisoreus Canadensis) , one of the best-known birds of Canada and the North. Utterly unlike the blue jay in appearance (it lacks a crest), its manners and habits are very similar. The plumage is ashy-gray, and only the forehead and throat are white. It becomes very tame about the camps of loggers and trappers in the northern woods, and is famous for the great variety of its notes. It breeds very early in the spring, while there is still much snow on the ground and the weather is very cold. The nest is not unlike that of the blue jay, but the eggs are white, spotted with olive-brown. This species, in one form or another, ranges throughout North America from Labrador to Alaska, south to the northern tier of States, in the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and Arizona, and on the Pacific Coast to Oregon. The Florida jay (Aphelocoma Floridana) is another crestless jay, but the general color is blue, with more or less white and ashy. It is abundant in Florida, but is wholly confined to that State, although closely allied species occur in the Rocky Mountain region and in California. A well-known and widely distributed Western jay is Steller's jay (Cyanocitta Stelleri), varieties of which are known as the ‘black-headed jay,’