THE CANADA JAY. 



I don't believe I shall let this 

 bird talk to you, boys and girls, 

 for I'm afraid he will not tell 

 you what a funny fellow he is. 

 Isn't he a queer looking bird? 

 See how rufHed up his feathers 

 are. He looks as though he 

 forgot to fix up, just as some 

 little boys forget to comb their 

 hair before going to school. 



Well, to tell the truth, he is a 

 very careless bird and does very 

 funny things sometimes. He 

 can't be trusted. 



Just listen to some of the 

 names that people give him — 

 "Meat Bird," " Camp Robber." 

 I think you can guess why he is 

 called tiiose names. 



Hunters say that he is the 

 boldest of birds, and I think they 

 are right, for what bird would 

 dare to go right into a tent and 

 carry off things to eat. 



A hunter thought he would 

 play a joke on one of these 

 birds. He had a small paper 

 sack of crackers in the bottom 



of his boat. The Jay flew down, 

 helped himself to a cracker and 

 flew away with it to his nest. 

 AYhile he was gone the hunter 

 tied up the mouth of the bag. 



In a few moments the Jay 

 was back for more. When he 

 saw he could not get into the 

 bag, he just picked it up 

 and carried it off. The joke 

 was on the hunter after all. 

 Look at him. Doesn't he look 

 bold enough to do such a trick? 



Look back at your February 

 number of '^Birds'' and see if 

 he is anything like the Blue 

 Jay. 



He is not afraid of the snow 

 and often times he and his mate 

 have built their nest, and the 

 eggs are laid while there is still 

 snow on the ground. Do you 

 know of any other birds who 

 build their nests so early? 



There is one thing about this 

 bird which we all admire — he is 

 always busy, never idle; so we 

 will forgive him for his funny 

 tricks. 



Ii6 



