56 INSESSORES. 
showy plumage, attractive form, and graceful mo- 
tions, as well as his restless and noisy activity, ren- 
der him one of the most prominent inhabitants of our 
woodlands. It is difficult to realize how a creature 
so eminently favored and gifted with so many per- 
sonal charms, should also be possessed of so much 
selfishness, mischief, and malice. But so it is; and 
even in the beautiful garb of the Blue Jay we find 
the moral written, that it is unsafe to judge from ex- 
ternal appearances. It robs the nests of other birds 
indiscriminately, sucking the eggs or devouring the 
young, and will even attack large birds and other 
animals which have been wounded or otherwise dis- 
abled; but true to his cowardly disposition, he sel- 
dom risks his safety in open combat with his equals. 
Audubon says, “The Cardinal Grosbeak will chal- 
lenge him, and beat him off the ground. The Red 
Thrush, the Mocking Bird, and many others, although 
inferior in strength, never allow him to approach 
their nests with impunity; and the Jay, to be even 
with them, creeps silently to it in their absence, and 
devours their eggs and young whenever he finds an 
opportunity. I have,’ he adds, “seen one go its 
round from one nest to another every day, and suck 
the newly laid eggs of the different birds in the 
neighborhood, with as much regularity and compo- 
sure as a physician would call on his patients. I 
have also witnessed the sad disappointment it expe- 
rienced, when, on returning to its own home, it found 
its mate in the jaws of a snake, the nest upset, and 
the eggs all gone.” 
