62 ON THE BEACH AT DAYTON A. 



brought the youngsters up to the doorstep 

 as a matter of course. 



The Florida jay, a bird of the scrub, is 

 not to be confounded with the Florida blue 

 jay (a smaller and less conspicuously crested 

 duplicate of our common Northern bird), 

 to which it bears little resemblance either 

 in personal appearance or in voice. Seen 

 from behind, its aspect is peculiarly strik- 

 ing ; the head, wings, rump, and tail being 

 dark blue, with an almost rectangular patch 

 of gray set in the midst. Its beak is very 

 stout, and its tail very long ; and though it 

 would attract attention anywhere, it is hardly 

 to be called handsome or graceful. Its 

 notes such of them as I heard, that is 

 are mostly guttural, with little or nothing of 

 the screaming quality which distinguishes 

 the blue jay's voice. To my ear they were 

 often suggestive of the Northern shrike. 



On the 23d of February I was standing 

 on the rear piazza of one of the cottages, 

 when a jay flew into the oak and palmetto 

 scrub close by. A second glance, and I saw 

 that she was busy upon a nest. When she 

 had gone, I moved nearer, and waited. She 

 did not return, and I descended the steps 



