Predacious Prosperity
The war seems to encourage predatory animals as well as predatory nations. I should estimate that the number of jays in the country round me has trebled within the last year or two, • and, I am told, that in other districts magpies have increased in like proportion. The jays have found their way into the gardens even of semi-suburban dwellers. Grey squirrels, buzzards and raven are all numerous. It is good news that the pine marten, once thought extinct, has reappeared in Scotland. The reason is probably the diminution in the number of keepers, and of shooting in general. The jay leads the revivalists because it lays a very large clutch of eggs, and builds a nest very open to destruction by those who wish to destroy it. In war-time its chief objection is its passion for green peas, and the thoroughness of its ravages The magpie and carrion crow are at their worst in the neighbourhood of a poultry farm.
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