172 



BIRDS IX THEIK RELATIONS TO MAN. 



or less damage as il stands in I lie field, but this is by no 

 means chargeable to all blue-jays, as there are undoubtedly 

 many that never tasted a kernel. 



In spring and summer, insects, fruit, and a variety of mis- 

 cellaneous matter are eaten. The jay is quite as unscrupulous 

 as the crow, which it resembles in many ways. Birds' nests 

 are occupied at the season when it is obliged to forage widely 

 for supplies, and eggs and young are sometimes carried off 

 and devoured. Just ho\v prevalent this unfortunate habit is 

 has not been determined, but there can be little doubt that 

 individual jays, at least, do much damage in this manner. 



THE BLUE-JAY. 



An examination of two hundred and ninety-two stomachs, 

 collected in every month of the year from twenty-two States 

 and the District of Columbia, made by the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, showed that practically three- 

 fourths of the food was vegetable. Forty-two per cent, of 

 the year's average was " mast," a comprehensive term for 

 nuts and large seeds of trees and shrubs. Corn was found 

 in seventy-one stomachs and amounted to about eighteen per 

 cent, for the year. The stomachs taken in autumn showed 

 conclusively that these birds prefer nuts to corn. 



