BLUE JAY. 1 09 



the whole of them, oblong appendages, resem- 

 bling red sealing wax ; sometimes they are also 

 seen on the tail. 



LOCATION. Found, in summer, throughout the 

 United States ; in winter, in the southern States. 

 Have seen them in the winter in Massachusetts. 



BLUE JAY. 



THIS elegant and well known bird, in the deli- 

 cate coloring and beauty of his plumage, will 

 bear a comparison with any of the gaudy colored 

 birds of tropical climes, and it probably sur- 

 passes many of them in his sprightly and lively 

 attitudes. He is also, altogether our own bird, 

 and does not leave us, even in the inclement sea- 

 son of the year ; for I have found them in the 

 very middle of winter, in our large woods, to 

 which they resort in extreme cold weather. In 

 the autumn they secrete and bury acorns, and 

 such hard seeds that they feed on, in divers 

 places, it is said, for their winter's hoard. But I 

 think it is rather to indulge a propensity which 

 is natural to all this class of birds, to hide any- 



