124 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
it almost as well. This bird was very fond of 
her. When she tried to give him his freedom, 
he would n’t have it. If she slipped away from 
him, he would sit up in a tree and scream like a 
lost child. Then, when she came into his sight, 
he would fly down to her shoulder and rub his 
head against her cheek like a kitten, he was so 
happy to be back with her. 
The blue jay is a useful bird. Dr. Brewer 
says that one pair of jays will feed their young 
in one season five hundred thousand caterpillars ; 
also that one pair of jays will destroy one million 
insect eggs In a winter. 
Many hard things have been said about this 
bird, — for one thing, that he eats eggs and 
young birds. You will notice, however, that 
many who repeat these stories about him say, “I 
have not seen the bird do so, but some one else 
has.” Testimony like this is worth nothing. 
Such things are copied from one book to an- 
other because it is much easier to take what is 
set down in the books than to go out and see 
for one’s self. Often a story which has no truth 
in it is said over and over till people believe it 
because they have heard it so often. 
Believe me, the blue jay is not half so bad as 
he is painted, and he has many lovable traits to 
make up for what he does do. 
