10 AMEND, IIEIUIE, |VANE. 
the Robin tree is the signal for a fight, which is but one of millions in the 
process of a feud already centuries old. 
In view of Blue Jay’s sins, it affords a legitimate satisfaction to recall a 
sight which met my gaze early one morning in May,—a Crow robbing a Blue 
Jay’s nest. Four eggs—one, two, three, four—vere extracted by the relentless 
claw of fate, while the agonized, if unrepentant, parents plead for mercy. The 
Crow is no saint, but he does not cloak his villainies under a garb of blue and 
white. 
For sheer naughtiness, too, com- 
mend us to the pleasant habit which 
the Blue Jay has of secreting himself 
in some thicket and imitating the 
notes of hawks or other birds or 
beasts of prey. The ke-ah note of 
the Red-shouldered Hawk is a favo- 
rite instrument of terror, and the 
killy-killy note of the Sparrow 
Hawk is no less cleverly handled. 
Once, in winter, having just heard 
ER OGCEGERESESGEST Photo areas and seen an authentic Butcher-bird, 
NEST AND EGGS OF BLUE JAY I hastened over to a copse upon hear- 
FIFTEEN FEET HIGH IN SWAMP WILLOW. mg a repetition of the cry. Here I 
found a Blue Jay holding a company 
of Tree Sparrows nearly paralyzed with fright while he produced the well- 
known clinking and buzzing notes of the Northern Shrike. Is it too much to 
believe that he chuckled with fiendish glee after this performance ? 
The notes and cries of this bird are always of interest, and by a little atten- 
tion one may soon learn to tell from them what kind of mischief is afoot. Pure 
jay, jay is used when alighting or greeting comrades, or in assembling the 
clan. Dayick, dayick is the raucous note of mischief or mere clamor. 
Delary, delary is the sound pressed out during those extraordinary springing 
motions which the bird describes through the whole are of his physical reach. 
It seems to be used both to announce a discovery, to summon or warn friends, 
or as a preparatory flight call. This delary is often preceded by a mellow 
toob, toob, of puzzling origin, and the flight itself is often accompanied by a 
rich ringing Che-klung-oo-i. Besides these, there are, of course, various 
soliloquizing and conversational notes, and these on occasion may reach the 
doubtful dignity of song. 
If we can say little that is good of the Blue Jay, all must agree that he is 
an interesting character; and our moral duty toward him and those upon 
whom he preys will probably be best observed, not by a policy of ruthless ex- 
termination, but by keeping the species within bounds. 
