202 SIGNS AND SEASONS 



to the top of their voices as they charge upon him, 

 and the jay retorts in a voice scarcely less compli- 

 mentary as he makes off. 



The jays have their enemies also, and need to 

 keep an eye on their ow^ eggs. It would be inter- 

 esting to know if jays ever rob jays, or crows plun- 

 der crows; or is there honor among thieves even in 

 the feathered tribes? I suspect the jay is often 

 punished by birds which are otherwise innocent of 

 nest- robbing. One season I found a jay's nest in 

 a small cedar on the side of a wooded ridge. It 

 held five eggs, every one of which had been punc- 

 tured. Apparently some bird had driven its sharp 

 beak through their shells, with the sole intention of 

 destroying them, for no part of the contents of the 

 eggs had been removed. It looked like a case of 

 revenge; as if some thrush or warbler, whose nest 

 had suffered at the hands of the jays, had watched 

 its opportunity and had in this way retaliated upon 

 its enemies. An egg for an egg. The jays were 

 lingering near, very demure and silent, and probably 

 ready to join a crusade against nest-robbers. 



The great bugaboo of the birds is the owl. The 

 owl snatches them from off their roosts at night, 

 and gobbles up their eggs and young in their nests. 

 He is a veritable ogre to them, and his presence 

 fills them with consternation and alarm. 



One season, to protect my early cherries, I placed 

 a large stuffed owl amid the branches of the tree. 

 Such a racket as there instantly began about my 

 grounds is not pleasant to think upon ! The orioles 



