150 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



the great mass of testimony on this point, but it shows that the habit is not so 

 prevalent as has been believed. Besides birds and their eggs, the Jay eats mice, 

 fi?h, salamanders, caterpillars, snails, and crustaceans, which altogether constitute 

 but little more than i per cent of its diet. The insect food is made up of beetles, 

 grasshoppers, caterpillars, and a few species of other orders, all noxious, e.xcept some 

 2>y2% of predaceous beetles. Thus something more than ig'^ of the whole food 

 consists of harmful insects. In August the Jay, like many other birds, turns its 

 attention to grasshoppers, which constitute nearly one-fifth of its food during that 

 month. At this time, also, most of the other noxious insects, including caterpillars, 

 are consumed, though the beetles are chiefly eaten in spring. 



" The vegetable food is quite varied, but the item of most interest is grain. 

 Corn was found in 70 stomachs, wheat in 8, and oats in 2, all constituting 19^ of the 

 total food. Corn is evidently the favorite grain, but a closer inspection of the rec- 

 ord shows that the greater part was eaten during the first five months of the year, 

 and that very little was taken after May, even in harvest time, when it is abundant. 

 This indicates that most of the corn is gleaned from the fields after harvest, except 

 what is stolen from the cribs or gathered in May at planting time. 



" The Jay's favorite food is mast (/. c, acorns, chestnuts, chinquapins, etc.), which 

 was found in 158 of the 292 stomachs and amounted to more than 42'"/ of the whole 

 food. In September corn formed 15 and mast 35^, while in October, November and 

 December corn dropped to an almost inappreciable quantity, and mast amounted to 

 64, 82 and 83^, respectively. And yet in these months corn is abundant and every- 

 where accessible. The other elements of food consist of a few seeds and wild 

 fruits, among wdiich grapes and blackberries predominate. 



" The results of the stomach examination show, (i ) that the Jay eats many no.x- 

 ious insects; (2) that its habit or robbing the nests of other birds is much less com- 

 mon than has been asserted ; and (3) that it does little harm to agriculture, since all 

 but a small amount of the corn eaten is waste grain." (Beal.) 



Personally, my attitude toward the Jay is that which I hold in regard to the 

 Crow. It is not unusual for the Jay to eat birds' eggs, and in so doing he does an 

 injury which the good deeds to his credit are far from balancing. As with the 

 Crow, any one of the insect or seed-eating birds killed by a Jay would doubtless 

 have been more desirable than the Jay itself, and where a single Jay, as often 

 happens, destroys a whole nestful of eggs it becomes a positively injurious species. 

 I believe, therefore, that the Blue Jay is no more deserving of protection than is the 

 Crow. Both birds, however, are far too interesting to be exterminated, but no 

 steps should be taken which will result in their increase. Belonging to a family 



