346 Trees, Stars, and Birds 



or crevices or bury them in the ground for future use. 

 Both wild and cultivated fruits of many kinds, weed 

 seeds, and corn form a part of their diet. They do good 

 by devouring scale insects, caterpillars, and grasshoppers. 



Blue jays have a great variety of calls, some of them 

 quite musical. They seem to mimic several other birds, 

 especially some of the hawks. Although they are hand- 

 some, an increase in their numbers, such as has been 

 noticed in many places, seems undesirable, because of 

 their bad habits. 



At what season do you see the greatest number of 

 jays? What do they find to eat in winter? Did you 

 ever try to tame a young blue jay ? Why do some per- 

 sons mistake jays for catbirds ? 



The California jay takes the place of the blue jay in 

 the Pacific Coast states. Great quantities of cherries, 

 apricots, and prunes, as well as the eggs and young of 

 hens and small birds, are eaten by them. 



The crow. The crow is entirely black and is about 

 half a yard long, which means that it is much larger 

 than any of the birds described in previous chapters. 

 It is also more intelligent. So cunning is the crow that 

 in spite of persecution it maintains itself in large num- 

 bers throughout the greater part of North America. 



The crow makes a bulky nest of sticks, with a lining 

 of finer materials, placing it in a tree at a height of 30 

 feet, more or less. Outside of the nesting season they 

 congregate in great numbers at certain roosts, to which 

 they may be seen flying in all directions about sunset. 

 They leave the roost at daybreak, some of them going 

 many miles in search of food. 



