100 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
both ripe and unripe cherries. Pointing out the 
extreme value of the bird in other ways, I asked him 
whether a few small robberies could not be forgiven 
it in consideration of its great usefulness, and was 
met, rather to my surprise, bya prompt acquiescence. 
For his part, said the gardener, he had no wish to 
kill the birds, but, unless he shot a certain number 
every year, his employer would accuse him‘of neglect- 
ing the fruit, and would very likely dismiss him from 
his situation. 
The master, in this case, and probably also in 
thousands of others, is more to blame than the man. 
As regards its temperament, the jay is a curious 
mixture of boldness and timidity. It will mob and 
persecute an owl, a weasel, or a stoat, and will dis- 
play a courage akin almost to rashness while so 
doing ; so much so, in fact, that an owl,or a ferret is 
often used by professional bird-catchers as a lure to 
attract the jay, limed twigs being ranged round it in 
such a manner as to capture the bird as it'makes its 
impetuous onslaught. On the other hand, it holds 
man in wholesome dread, and generally dashes off 
with a terrified squall as soon as it catches sight of 
him, more especially if he happen to be clad in 
velveteen and to carry a gun. Perhaps, however, 
under the circumstances, ‘ discretion” would be a 
more appropriate word than ‘‘ fear,” the bird having 
learned by bitter experience that man is far more 
to be dreaded than all the beasts of the field. It 
is, doubtless, owing to the caution of the bird in 
approaching human beings that the war of persecu- 
