XIII. 

 BLUE JAY MANNERS. 



EAKLY in my acquaintance with the jay fam- 

 ily, wishing to induce the birds of the vicinity 

 to show themselves, I procured a quantity of 

 shelled corn, and scattered a few handfuls under 

 my window every night. This gave me oppor- 

 tunity to note, among other things, the jay's 

 way of conducting himself on the ground, and 

 his table manners. To eat a kernel of dry corn, 

 he flew with it to a small branch, placed it be- 

 tween his feet (the latter of course being close 

 together), and, holding it thus, drew back his 

 head and delivered a blow with that pickaxe 

 beak of his that would have broken a toe if he 

 had missed by the shadow of an inch the grain 

 for which it was intended. I was always ner- 

 vous when I saw him do it, for I expected an 

 accident, but none ever happened that I know 

 of. When the babies grew clamorous all over 

 the place, the jay used to fill his beak with the 

 whole kernels. Eight were his limit, and those 

 kept the mouth open, with one sticking out at 

 the tip. Thus loaded he flew off, but was back 



