O foc-u ornathalogical font of knowledge...

[Kosmic Kartman]

I was wainting to pull out of a T juction in Dulwich today and I saw a young Jay perched on some railings calling to what I asumed was its mother on the pavement. My view was restricted by the passenger door. When stone me! up flies a Magpie and starts feeding it.I know that other birds are fooled into rearing Cookoos, and that Crows, Rooks, Ravens magpies and Jays as well as others or all part of the same sub order. But a Magpie feeding a Jay!  How unusual is this in the bird world?

I though that maybe the Magpie might have lost it's young or something and had taken up foster caring.
 

[pointer2null]

was it feeding it or eating it? Magpies are carniverous.

[Looney tune]

This I have never heard of, but as pointer says eating them is more like it but this would happen while they were still in the nest or chicks. A maggpie will watch another birds for ages until it workes out where their nest is and the best time to rob it. I trap hundreds every year saving hundreds of songbirds.
PS they are not strictly carnivors, they eat anything.

[DILLIGAFF]

More wildlife..................... while I am sitting here reading this post, a skanky old fox sneaked into my back garden and nicked the crust of bread I put out for the dicky boids.

[Captain Haddock]

Are you sure it wasn't a young magpie in fancy dress????

[GringoRojo]

surrogacy? doubt it, but not impossible - I don't know everything after all.

[Kosmic Kartman]

Difinately a Jay, comming up to adult size but still had a few flegdeling feathers on flank and head. And definately being fed by a Magpie.

Looked like these chaps.

[Fazerider]

Never heard of a jay taking up the cuckoo's method of rearing young.
Magpies are keen egg thieves though. My parent's lawn is full of holes where magpies have cached eggs they've stolen from the neighbours ducks. Perhaps your magpies brought a jay's egg back to their nest and lost it amongst their own?

[Kosmic Kartman]

One of my thoughts was that the Jay egg had been knocked out or removed from its nest and placed back in the wrong nest, though if this was the case whoever returned the egg to a Magpies nest must have been a climber as most most of the Magpie nests i've seen seem to be quite high in the trees.