SOME MISCHIEF—MAKERS 129 
as if either his body was too heavy for his wings, or that 
the wings were stiff. 
“Like the Crow, his cousin, this Jay belongs to all 
north-eastern America, making its home from Florida to 
Newfoundland, and, like the Crow, we have some mem- 
bers of its family with us in New England all the 
winter, when it is certainly a pleasure to see them flying 
through the bare trees or gathering food on the pure 
white snow. 
“The Jay does not annoy the farmer by pulling corn, nor 
trouble the chicken yard; for eight or nine months he 
earns an honest living, largely of vegetable food and 
harmful insects, snails, tree frogs, mice, small fish, and 
lizards, but in the breeding season, alas! he is a nest 
robber, and here in my own garden and orchard I have 
seen him this summer dodging and trying to avoid the 
angry birds that were pursuing him. 
“Twice I heard nestling Robins twittering as they do 
when their parents come with food, but, like the wolf 
disguised as Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother, it was a 
Jay who came to the nest and seized a squab, as my 
eyes saw and the cries of the parént birds told. 
“Then I said to Jacob, ‘ We will not let the Jays build in 
Birdland; they must be outcasts and go out and live in 
the far-away woods with the Crows, where there are few 
small birds.’ 
“How can we keep them out, you ask? It does take 
a little time and patience, to be sure, but if we watch when 
they begin to build and take away the sticks, you may be 
very sure that they will take the hint and go elsewhere, 
for they are quick-witted birds. So, perhaps, in time they 
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