134 



THE OSPREY. 



the iiioni. A Thrasher has sought the highest 

 top of the talest tree whose young- green tips 

 are just beginning- to reflect the slanting rays, 

 announcing the g-lory of the approaching king 

 of day. Happy -most happy — does he seem up 

 there in his elevated ])osition and loudly does 

 he express his joy of tlie new born morn. Tiie 

 giddy Catbirds, wild with love, are raging mad 

 and what a jumble of notes is their's as they chase 

 each other about the orchard and the lawn, and 

 what a demand they lay upon their tail not a 

 single mood or tliought, but what this member 

 is called into requisition to add emphasis and 

 expression to the idea which is momentarily 

 coursing- through their brain. How different, 

 how calmly majestic and serene in comparison, 

 is the Wood Thrush, which now, from his chosen 

 glen, greets the morn with his molten melody. 



"As he sinss with flule-like thrill 



'Eolie— Eolie!' " • 



List the air srovvii hushed and still; 

 Listen in the vale the rill: 

 List the trees on plain and hill 



"Eolie!" 

 And his note the wild flowers thrill 

 As so clear so soft sings he 

 "Eolie— Eoliel" 



The Chippy sends his quavering beat and the 

 House Wren mounts an elevated twig, where, 

 with distended throat, he sings his morning- 

 psalm, and many others join in the refrain. A 

 whole band of (xold Finches proclaim the glory 

 of Old Sol from vonder giant elm, while the 



first Hinnmer of the season htims his approval 

 <if the whole, and of the apple tree now 

 decked in flushed snowy bloom. A flner note 

 proclaims the presence of a Black-poll Warbler, 

 and the soft sweet tones that of the Yellowbird. 

 There is a lull in all this medley, as a boy, pip- 

 ing his tune, crosses the lower edge of the 

 orchard, but in this short interval the distant 

 trill of a Field Sparro^v and the happy rollick- 

 ing note of a Flicker are heard from afar. The 

 martial Robin seems provoked by the whist- 

 ling f)oy and shows his presence by soundly 

 denouncing- him. I suspect the recent silence 

 of the Robin has a deeper meaning, and shall 

 inquire into his domestic aftairs a little more 

 closely hereafter. Our sweet voiced ever bab- 

 bling, ever pleasing Red-eyed Greenlet con- 

 tinues to delight us with his merry unassuming 

 notes, and the wouldbe owner of the orchard by 

 a sudden outburst of a lively air eclipses his 

 fiery cousin, the Baltimore Oriole, who now and 

 then enters into competition from the cotton 

 wood in the glen. 



One by one these feathered minstrels join 

 their notes until the aisles and arches of natures 

 own cathedral ring with joy and praise. There 

 is not a discord in the whole, be the voice weak 

 or strong, from the tiny squeal of the Hummer 

 to the loud harsh call of Myiarchus, or the croak 

 of the Crow; each one fits and is fitted to its 

 surroundings and fills a place in the grajid 

 symphony of the early ntorning-. 



NOTES ON THE HABITS OF THE BLUE JAY IN MAINE. 

 Bv J. Mkktox Swain, Portland. Maine. 



The dift'erence in the habits of the Blue Jay 

 [CytJiiociita cristafa) especially during the 

 breeding season, here in Maine, and in the more 

 southern and western states, has often been re- 

 marked upf>n. though I have seen but very little 

 written on its difference in habits. This bird is 

 a resident throughout the year in this state. In 

 the atitumn it is seen and heard verj' plentifully 

 about the woods, sometimes in pairs, and often 

 in small flocks, and they are very noisy as they 

 alight in the top of some tall ti-ee and utter 

 their loud shrill call, Kee-Kee-Kee, or Jay-Jay- 

 Jaj', and hurry on to some other part of the 

 wood or field. Oftentimes their call is answered 

 by a flock from a hill-side not far away. They 

 are associated in my mind with the dropping'- of 

 Beechnuts, and the rattle of acorns, and the 

 rustle of the falling leaves, along the hill-sides 

 and banks of our streams and rivers. 



Ever^' sportman has reason to remember this 

 elf of the woods, as he wends his way throug-h 

 the haunts of the Woodcock or Ruffed Grouse, 

 with eye and ear alert to catch sight or sound of 

 these fine game birds. Perhaps just as he is 

 about to flush from one or two to eight or ten 

 Grouse, who have not yet been scattered from 

 each other by the gunner, a Blue Jay will sud- 

 denly drop into a tree over his head and will set 

 up such a shrill, startled cry, and will soon be 

 joined by half a dozen birds all scolding and 

 making such a fuss, that the exact whereabouts 

 of the sportsman is known to the Grouse in his 

 vicinity, and they will be on the alert for him. 



Often the g-unner becomes provoked at the Jays 

 and the Jay get shot instead of the Crrouse. 

 When one goes to the woods along- some wood- 

 road in the winter, he is greeted with the cry of 

 this bird, and it sounds very cheerful as there 

 is so little bird life to be seen at this season. 

 They frequent the lumber camps at this time 

 of the year, but are not as mischievous and free 

 as their cousins the Canada Jaj- (I\'risoiTus 

 caimdctisis. ] 



When I was a boy in school, Saturdays I 

 often went into the woods with my father's men 

 who were chopping wood, or cutting or hauling 

 lumber, to watch the few birds I found there. I 

 found the White-breasted Ntithatch, and Chic- 

 a-dee. Downy Woodpecker, Pine Finches and 

 Grosbeaks, and the Redpolls, also the Ruffed 

 Grouse; but the most common bird to be seen 

 was the Blue Jay. Sometimes I set a steel trap 

 on stump or stone, and sprinkled a few kernels 

 of corn on the trencher, and would hardly get 

 out of sight of my trap when I would hear an 

 uproar among the Jays, and returning- would 

 find a Jay caug-ht fast by the bill or leg. I used 

 a weak springing- trap, and would cloth about 

 the jaws of it so as not to break a beak or leg. 

 When one was caught the "posse" would be 

 very shy of grain on the rocks or stumps, and I 

 had to sprinkle g-rain about for several days 

 without a trap before they would venture near 

 one again. Frequently while in the woods in 

 the fall, winter or early spring, I have heard 

 Jays imitate the cry of the Red-shouldered 



