Some Odd Bits of Bird Life 73 



leaves and the grass where the tender green had not yet 

 sprung were as dry as chips. A fire, started by a spark from 

 a passing engine, spread rapidly and ran along the hillside 

 toward the dove's nest. I knew the location of the bird's 

 home and I watched the mother dove all through the subse- 

 quent ordeal. The flames reached the tree upon which the 

 frail nest was placed, and though the fire mounted high 

 enough for the dove to feel the intensity of the heat, she lifted 

 not a wing to leave her charge. The flames swept under her 

 and passed on, but for fully five minutes thereafter the devoted 

 mother was shrouded in smoke. The bird's courage was of 

 little avail, however, for some creature, man or beast, robbed 

 the nest the day after the fire. 



The jay is unquestionably a good deal of a rascal, but he 

 is one of the most interesting creatures that fly. I confess to 

 a liking for him though he does steal eggs once in a while 

 and is the common scold of every bird neighborhood. I 

 watched a pair of jays once while they built their nest in a 

 small fir tree in the dooryard of a hotel at Highland Park. 

 The birds built the bulkiest jay's nest I had ever seen. 

 When the structure was about two-thirds completed I heard 

 a loud jay conversation in the lane back of the hotel and I 

 looked over the fence to discover the cause. The two jays 

 were on an ash pile, and were having an animated discussion 

 about a very dirty paper collar which lay between them. It 

 was apparent that one of the birds doubted the utility of the 

 collar as nest-making material, while the other was an advo- 

 cate of trying it if for no other reason than that it was some- 

 thing new. Womanlike, Madame Jay finally had her way (I 

 suppose it was the madame), and into the wall of the nest the 

 paper collar went. When the home was completed six eggs 



