A BIRD OF OPINIONS. 183 



straight, and holds his toes as close together as 

 though he had worn tight boots all his life. If 

 startled, he bounds up into the air in the oddest 

 way, a foot or two, or even more, generally 

 turning half round, and coming down with his 

 head the other way. If much alarmed he will 

 bounce up in this way half a dozen times in 

 quick succession, and should he happen to be 

 on a table at the time, he usually ends by land- 

 ing on the floor. His alighting after any flight 

 is most singular : he comes to the floor in a 

 crouching position, legs sprawled, body horizon- 

 tal and nearly touching the matting, looking 

 like a bird gone mad ; then instantly springs 

 up six or eight inches, half turns, and stands 

 upright, crest erect, and looking excited, almost 

 frightened. If much disturbed he comes down 

 with wings half open, tail held up, and every 

 feather awry, as if he were out in a gale, ut- 

 tering at the same time a loud squawk. He is 

 a most expert catcher, not only seizing without 

 fail a canary seed thrown to him, but even flut- 

 tering bits of falling paper, the hardest of all 

 things to catch. 



The blue-jay is a bird of opinions about most 

 things, and able to express himself quite clearly ; 

 as, for example, when he found himself under 

 a chair without rounds, on which he likes to 

 perch, he stood and looked around on every side, 



