JAY. 175 



of cattle, the calls of the domestic fowls, 

 the neighing of horses and the screaming 

 of geese. One of these birds was known to 

 imitate the sound of a saw so closely, that 

 though it was on a Sunday, listeners could 

 hardly be persuaded that his innocent 

 owner had not a carpenter at work in his 

 dwelling. Another bird had learned to 

 hound a dog upon cattle by whistling to 

 him and calling him by name; but he suf- 

 fered severely for his mischievous propen- 

 sity. On one occasion the dog, on a 

 frosty-day, impelled by the calls of the 

 Jay, pursued a cow that was big with 

 young, and the poor animal fell upon the 

 ice and was severely hurt. Her owner 

 immediately prosecuted the owner of the 

 bird for keeping a nuisance, and the poor 

 songster was compelled to be killed. In 

 the pronunciation of words, the Jay al- 

 ways succeeds best, as indeed do all birds 

 with those in which the letter R is most 

 frequent. 



His prices vary in this country from ten 



