CROW RELATIVES 



six or eight feet from her, but only because I moved 

 very slowly. At that time I had a camera with only a 

 small lens and short bellows, and the best I could get 

 was a small picture, as she would not return while the 

 camera was set up near the nest. 



Various friends of mine have beaten me on Blue Jay 

 pictures, but some day I hope to get even with them. 

 I tried to do this last spring and had most exasperating 

 luck, though I made an encouraging start, finding three 

 nests the first day I looked. Early in May I was going 

 to a hawks' nest and passed some pasture cedars, 

 bordering the woods, when I saw a jay go skulking 

 from them. There was a nest near by, just ready for 

 eggs. This set me to searching the cedars always a 

 favorite resort for jays and further along I came upon 

 a jay sitting on four eg^s, and further still another 

 on five. The birds were all shy, and, strange to say, 

 a few days later, every nest was deserted or robbed. 

 This only made me the more determined, and, one 

 after another, I found six more nests, nine occupied 

 nests in all, besides several other new ones that had 

 been recently abandoned. But to be brief not one of 

 these pairs raised its family. Only three of them 

 hatched, and in these cases the young disappeared 

 before they grew a feather. I had not disturbed them 

 in any way, save one pair at whose nest I set a dummy 

 camera awhile, and I charged the mischief upon crows 

 or other jays, though I have no means of definitely 

 knowing. All I could do in line of pictures was to 



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