THE BLUE JAY 



THIS brilliant, handsome blue-coat never "hides his 

 light under a bushel"; his noisy jay-jay always 

 proclaims his presence. He would at times be unendur- 

 able, except that he never remains long in one place; he 

 is on the leap constantly, with a dash and an impudent 

 assurance that is amusing. 



He is the "bad boy" of the bird neighborhood, the ter- 

 ror of the small birds. They seem to have the same fear 

 of him that children have of a great bully. He swoops 

 down upon them, worries and frightens them, robs their 

 nests, and brings to his own spoiled fledglings eggs and 

 young as tidbits. 



He is a devoted husband and father, who shows his 

 best traits in his family circle. He reminds one of cer- 

 tain human beings who take excellent care of their own, 

 but who are neither good neighbors nor desirable citizens. 

 Occasionally, however, he has family differences. My 

 sister tells of watching a jay bring twig after twig for nest- 

 building to his mate, who was evidently in a bad mood. 

 She would have none of them; she seized each twig and 

 threw it away with a disagreeable yah, yah. After re- 

 peated attempts, he gave it up and both flew away. My 

 sister never learned what occurred later. 



The jay is an inveterate tease. He delights in annoy- 

 ing poor half-blind owls in the day-time, by pecking at 

 them from unexpected quarters. An owl has been known 

 to seize the Tormentor and speedily put an end to his 

 existence. 



The blue jay is a member of the same family to which 

 the crow belongs, and while totally diff^erent in appear- 

 ance, resembles him in his cleverness, his fearlessness, 

 and his audacious insolence. Dr. Henshaw, formerly of 



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