Biological Papers. 133 



the time and had many opportunities as well as a keen interest 

 in any disturbances that might take place in bird society. Two 

 pairs of blue jays built their nests in my yard during the 

 past summer. The birds were very shy and very quiet about 

 their nesting quarters, and unless one understood something 

 of their nesting habits he would never even suspect that there • 

 was a nest anywhere in the neighborhood. My present home 

 place has five and one-half acres in it and is partly covered 

 with forest and fruit trees. The boys kept the English spar- 

 rows exterminated by the use of a small gun. The result 

 was that at one time we counted as many as twenty wild 

 native bird's nests that were being used on our own grounds. 

 One morning in May I saw a jay picking at something on a 

 fence-post, and threw a stone so as to frighten the bird sud- 

 denly. When I reached the spot I found half of the shell and 

 about one-third of the contents of a turtle-dove's egg. A few 

 mornings later I saw a jay picking at something on a dead 

 limb of a fallen apple tree. I frightened the bird by throwing 

 a hammer at it, which I happened to have in my hand. On 

 the limb I found part of the remains of a robin's egg. The 

 very next morning, near the same spot, I saw a jay flying with 

 something in its mouth. It lit high up in an elm tree, just 

 over the roadway. After the jay began to pick at the object 

 I approached and found small pieces of a speckled egg-shell 

 which I could not determine for a certainty; by comparison 

 it was that of a brown thrasher or cardinal redbird. In May, 

 1906, just a year before the above observations were made, 

 a robin built her nest in a small tree that grew not more than 

 ten feet from our house. The tree was beside the pump and 

 near the kitchen door. We naturally took unusual interest 

 in the bird, as the nest was so low that by standing on a chair 

 placed on the sidewalk it could be touched by the hand. My 

 boys saw nearly every movement the birds made while the 

 nest was being constructed. Only a few days had passed when 

 they informed me that five little blue eggs were in the nest. 

 Immediately the old robin began her duties of incubation, and 

 everything looked favorable for a fine brood of semidomesti- 

 cated robins right in front of our door. Quite early one morn- 

 ing I heard, through an open window, a great commotion 

 among the birds out of doors. I ran to a window and saw 

 robins and catbirds flying at a blue jay. I hurried down-stairs 

 and was out of doors just in time to see the jay fly to a tree 



