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A debonair appearance and fine 

 •lothes often cover or condone a multi- 

 tude of sins. Such at least is the case 

 with our well known BLUE JAYS. 

 lOveryone knows that they are destruc- 

 tive rascals but yet hesitates to recom- 

 mend their destruction. When, how- 

 iver, we actually see them sneak up to 

 the nest of a small bird and carry off 

 one of the young" or devour some of the 

 eggs, it is hard to forgive even such a 

 handsome and amusing bird. 



The vocal organs of Jays are capable 

 of producing almost any kind of 

 sounds, — whistles of all sorts, high or 

 low, screams of hawks, mewing' or cats, 

 low confused muttering notes, etc. 

 When excited, however, they always 

 fall back on the familiar harsh scream- 

 ing "jay, jay." 



Anything" edible is food for them 

 whether it be berries, fruits, insects or 

 flesh. They have a mania for hiding 

 things, either extra food or any object 

 that attracts their fancy. They breed 

 most commonly in young coniferous 

 trees. 



of the foster parents. These young Cowbirds are so large 

 and require so much food that the rightful occupants of 

 the nest sometimes are suffocated. Were it not for these 

 pernicious traits, Cowbirds would be economically very 

 useful, for they destroy quantities of injurious insects. 

 The female is a uniform dull gray, but the male is a hand- 

 some bird, with coffee-colored head and glossy black body. 

 The BOBOLINK is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of 

 the bird world. In spring and summer the male is clothed 

 in black and handsomely marked with white and buff on the 

 head and back. He is also one of the j oiliest of birds, 

 singing his tinkling, rippling, bubbling song from the tree 

 tops, from fence posts, tall weeds or blades of grass, or 

 rising, lark-fashion, and singing as he descends to earth 

 on set wings. In fall, he changes his dress to a sparrow- 

 like one, just like that of his mate; no more is the lively, 

 entrancing song to be heard, only a sharp metallic "chink" 

 as a call note or sound of alarm. They gather into large 

 flocks and move southward and are then known in the Chesa- 

 peake Bay region only as "Reed-birds", thousands of them 

 being shot and sold in markets and served in restaurants 

 under that name. Farther south, along the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf coasts, they are known as "Rice-birds,"for they 



