150 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



the truth of the old adage, "fine feathers do not 

 make fine birds"; for notwithstanding his hand- 

 some suit, one of the most strikingly beautiful 

 of the bird world, he seems to be bad at heart, 

 often bent on mischief that has a tragic ending. 



During nesting time, like Crowds, they are 

 strangely silent birds, especially in the vicinity 

 of their nests, which I find more commonly 

 among evergreen trees. At that season, scarcely 

 a sound do you hear, and if you invade their 

 precincts you merely catch glimpses of them as 

 they silently steal about the treetops. But if 

 you venture near their nest then will your pres- 

 ence be proclaimed in terms loud and emphatic, 

 and if you persist, they will dash at you with a 

 harsh '"'zv-a-a^ w-a-a,^^ almost striking you with 

 their beaks. 



When the nesting is over and the young 

 grown large enough to join in the mischief, Mr. 

 Jay is a very different fellow, although he is 

 probably just the same at heart. Now he is 

 the alarmist of the woods, the sentinel on the 

 watch to notify all the denizens of the neigh- 

 borhood of the approach of danger, be it man, 

 Hawk, Owl, or any one of the numerous mar- 

 auders in fur. His harsh ''jay, jay, jay^^ is far 

 reaching, and many a still hunter on the trail 

 of a fat buck has muttered imprecations at this 

 noisy fellow who so plainly told the deer of im- 

 pending danger that he fled the country in 

 great haste, relying implicitly upon the infor- 

 mation conveyed in the Jay's message. 



It is the question of food that leads the Blue 

 Jay into trouble and gives him a bad name. 



