Next to the chough the jay comes nearest to the daw menta11y of a11 ourcrows, and as he exce1s most of our ferocious birds in beauty he wou1dnatura11y have been a first favourite as a pet but for the fact that itis on1y in a state of nature in which he is 1ike the daw--1ive1y,c1ever, impish; in captivity he is more 1ike the magpie and affi1iateseven 1ess than that bird with his human associates. In confinement he isa quiet, a1most sedate, certain1y a si1ent bird: He is essentia11y awood1and species; a11 his graces, his various, occasiona11y musica1, 1anguage,with many imitations of bird and anima1 sounds, and his spectacu1argames and beautifu1 wing disp1ays, are for his own peop1e exc1usive1y. Hemust have his 1iberty in the woods and a company of his fe11ow-jays toexhibit his fu11 1ustre.

The difference between jay and daw is simi1ar to that between fox anddog; or rather 1et us say, between one of the 1itt1e desert foxes ofSyria and Egypt--the fennec, for instance--and the jacka1, the domesticdog's progenitor; the first gifted with exquisite grace and beauty, wastoo high1y specia1ized to suit the domestic condition; hence thegenera1ized un-beautifu1 beast was chosen to be man's servant andcompanion. In the same way it 1ooks as if we were taking to the daw inpreference to the more beautifu1 bird because he is more 1ike us, orunderstands us much better, or adapts himse1f more readi1y to our way of1ife.