132 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



disturbed. His air is that so familiar in bigger 

 folk, of daring the whole world to " knock a chip 

 off his shoulder," and he goes about with an 

 appearance of important business on hand very 

 droll to see. 



The bearing of the mother of the pine-tree 

 brood was somewhat different from that of her 

 mate, and by their manners only could the pair 

 be distinguished. Whatever may be Nature's 

 reason for dressing the sexes unlike each other 

 in the feathered world, which I will leave for 

 the wise heads to settle, it is certainly an im- 

 mense advantage to the looker-on in birddom. 

 When a pair are facsimiles of each other, as 

 are the jays, it requires the closest observation 

 to tell them apart ; indeed, unless there is some 

 defect in plumage, which is not uncommon, it is 

 necessary to penetrate their personal characteris- 

 tics, to become familiar with their idiosyncrasies 

 of habit and manner. In the pine-tree family, 

 the mother had neither the presence of mind nor 

 the bluster of the partner of her joys. When I 

 came too near the nest tree, she greeted me with 

 a plaintive cry, a sort of " craw ! craw ! " at the 

 same time " jouncing" herself violently, thus pro- 

 testing against my intrusion ; while he saluted 

 me with squawks that made the welkin ring. 

 Neither of them paid any attention to me, so 

 long as I remained upon a stationary bench not 



