AMERICAN ORNirilOLOaY. 279 



other as I have seen many other birds appear. Soon after the middle 



uf February I noticed difft-rcnt notes in bis call and I found too wlien 



he uttered these, he moved up and down on the branch where he rested. 



It seemed as if the rising and fallinghelped him in the utterance of them. 



It is a call peculiar to himself and not one he makes to mimic other 



birds. My birds were slender and graceful when first they came but 



before winter had nearly gone many had grown quite portly and assumed 



a kind of dignity peculiar to fleshy people. As the warm days of April 



came they returned less and less frequently, and at last, toward the 



middle of the month we thought our winter friends had flown. One 



morning the last of April I looked out and the ten beauties were 



scattered among the trees, calling to each other. Such a noisy con- 



course it was, but discordant as it appeared to be, we all enjoyd this 



farewell visit, as it proved to be. It has been said that the Jay lays 



her eggs in the nest of other birds, but this is not true as I have seen 



their nest and eggs. It is usually built in a tree-crotch fifteen ortw^enty 



feet from the ground. It is rather a rüde structure built of twigs and 



strong roots but the lining of the nest is much finer than the outside. 



The nests I examined were in a scrub oak and cedar but we found 



another in a maple too high for inspection. The eggs four or six in 



number, are pale olive gray, dotted with cinnamon brown. Both the 



male and female help each other in building the nest and their familjT?- 



relations seem as happy as those of other birds as far as I can see.. 



The Jay is an insectivorous bird and also very fond of fine seeds such- 



as he finds in many noxious weeds, and while these food supplies can- 



be found he will not visit the haunts of man. Thus he not only destroys 



many injurious insects but prevents the spread of numerous weeds. 



He is said devour young birds and eggs, but statistics show that these 



are not his regulär diet, for out of two hundred and eighty stomachs 



examined only three showed traces'of eggs and two of young birds. 



I have found it impossible to attract Jays to the house, while their 



natural food supply can be obtained. When deep snows lie upon the 



ground they are driven to seek elsewhere, and then will take any kind 



of food gratefullv. 



K. M. Phillips. Oxford. Me. 



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