FIVE DAYS ON MOUNT MANSFIELD. 101 
ward him, making as much commotion as 
possible in pushing through the undergrowth. 
It was a clever scheme, but the bird was not 
to be surprised into uttering so much as an 
exclamation. He dropped out of his tree, 
flew a little distance to a lower and less con- 
spicuous perch, and there I finally left him. 
Once before, on Mount Clinton, I had seen 
him, and had been treated with the same 
studied silence. And later, I fell in with 
a little family party on the side of .Mount 
Washington, and they, too, refused me so 
much asa note. Probably I was too near 
the birds in every case, though in the third 
instance there was no attempt at skulking, 
nor any symptom of nervousness. I have 
often been impressed and amused by the 
blue jay’s habit in this respect. No bird 
could well be noisier than he when the noisy 
mood takes him; but come upon him sud- 
denly at close quarters, and he will be as 
still as the grave itself. He has a double 
eift, of eloquence and silence, — silver and 
gold — and no doubt his Canadian cousin is 
equally well endowed. 
The reader may complain, perhaps, that 
I speak only of trifles. Why go to a moun- 
