A Blue Scare An unpopular bird in another garden, as
indeed in most gardens that it frequents, is the jay, whose taste in green peas as well as in small eggs and young it is hard to satiate. Many sorts of devices have been tried to scare the jays from the peas (which are already in full pod), and the gardener thinks that he has discovered a secret. A long acquaintance with the persistence of the jay raises doubts about the continued efficacy of the scare, but its nature may be worth the broadcasting. Since he has used blue paper not a jay has resumed its assaults on the peas. Other naturalists than this gardener have made their experiments with the effect of colour on animals, and Lord Avebury decided that bees at any rate have a definite preference for blue. Sparrows are certainly less severe in their assaults on purple crocuses than yellow and they prefer (in my garden, at any rate) the yellow primulas before the darker hues. It may be that jays, though the flourish set on their plumage is the blue feather on the wing, may nevertheless dislike blue paper. It is alleged that the jays avoid any garden where the washing is strung up to dry, and cottage peas are therefore entirely immune on Mondays ! It is a comfortable thought.
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