A POLITE JAY. 127 



leaned over her tenderly; she fluttered her 

 wings and opened her mouth, and he dropped 

 into it the tidbit he had brought. Then she 

 stepped to a branch on one side, and he pro- 

 ceeded to attend to the wants of the young 

 family, too small as yet to appear above the 

 edge. 



The pine-tree, which from this moment be- 

 came of absorbing interest, was so far from my 

 window that the birds never thought of me as 

 an observer, and yet so near that with my glass 

 I could see them perfectly. It was also ex- 

 actly before a thick-foliaged maple, that formed 

 a background against which I could watch the 

 life of the nest, wherever the sunlight fell, and 

 whatever the condition of the sky; so happily 

 was placed my blue jay household. 



I observed at once that the jay was very gal- 

 lant and attentive to his spouse. The first 

 mouthful was for her, even when babies grew 

 clamorous, and she took her share of the work 

 of feeding. Nor did he omit this little polite- 

 ness when they went to the nest together, both 

 presumably with food for the nestlings. She 

 was a devoted mother, brooding her bantlings 

 for hours every day, till they were so big that it 

 was hard to crowd them back into the cradle ; 

 and he was an equally faithful father, working 

 from four o'clock in the morning till after dusk, 



