THE OIIIOLKS. liLACKHlllDS. CUOWS, aXD JAYS. 171 



hciiclicial I1ii'()Ii,l;Ii llicir (Icslnict'Kni of mice and other rodents. 

 (.">) Tliey are valnal)le occasionally as scavenj^-ers." 



The MAia'iE, raiiiiinii' from Arizona to Alaska and I'roin the 

 Rocky Monnlains to the coasi, except a part of ( alifornia in 

 wliicli it is replaced by the yellow-billed variety known as 

 Nnttall's mai^pie, althouiih of handsome appearance, has some 

 traits tliat are utterly disrei)utable and scarcely one that may 

 be called valuable. He is a thief, stealing the hunter's game, 

 the traveller's supplies, eveu his very dinner before him. 

 Worse than all, he is an assassin, a torturer without a heart, 

 merciless. Young birds are tidbits for him. With bound- 

 less audacity he assaults horses and mules, galled by their 

 harnesses and reduced by continuous packing over rough 

 trails, lacerating their raw flesh and sometimes even going so 

 far as to put out their eyes. If people will have cage-birds, 

 here is a proper victim. A criminal by nature, he may be 

 confined without compunction. His odd and knowing ways 

 make him an interesting pet, and after once becoming accus- 

 tomed to a cage, captivity does not appear a hardship for him. 

 Economically the magpie is a failure. 



The Blue-Jay is a resident over the whole of the United 

 States east of the Great Plains. Its home is in the woods, 

 though it makes frequent excursions to orchards and orna- 

 mental trees about the farmstc^ad. These birds are seen to 

 best advantage among the nut trees in autumn. Then is tin* 

 tune of their harvest. From tre(^ lo tree they go in troops, 

 calling in glee, swishing the branches, rattling down nnts, 

 forcing an opening by well-directed blows of tluMr powerful 

 bills through hard shells, or busily engaged in hoarding snp- 

 plies in crevices for use in the coming season of want. Hearty, 

 energetic, versatile, the jay at this season is worth watching. 

 As to food, he is essentially a vegetarian by. preference. 

 Nothing suits his taste quite so well as luits. — acorns, chest- 

 nuts, beechnuts, and similar kinds, having rather thin shells. 

 Sometimes a flock will develop a taste for corn, and do more 



