papular Sh'cttanarj? at &ntmat*tr Mature. 355 



the purpose of pairing and of fixing upon 

 the districts they are to occupy ; and the 

 noise made on these occasions may be aptly 

 compared to that of a distant meeting of dis- 

 orderly drunken persons. The Jay builds in 

 woods, and makes an artless nest, composed 

 of sticks, fibres, and slender twigs ; lays five 

 or six eggs, ash-gray, mixed with green and 

 faintly spotted with brown. 



In the ' Journal of a Naturalist ' we find, 



in reference to the love of offspring, as being 

 particularly manifested in birds, the follow- 

 ing remarks on the Jay. " This bird is al- 



ways extremely timid and cautious, when its 

 own interest or safety is solely concerned ; 

 but no sooner does its hungry brood clamour 

 for supply, than it loses all this wary cha- 

 racter, and it becomes a bold and impudent 

 thief. At this period it will visit our gardens, 

 which it rarely approaches at other times, 

 plunder them of every raspberry, cherry, or 

 bean, that it can obtain, and will not cease 

 from rapine as long as any of the brood or 

 the crop remains. We see all the nestlings 

 approach, and, settling near some meditated 

 scene of plunder, quietly await a summons 

 to commence. A parent bird from some 

 tree surveys the ground, then descends upon 

 the cherry, or into the rows, immediately 

 announces a discovery by a low but parti- 

 cular call, and all the family flock into the 

 banquet, which having finished by repeated 

 visits, the old birds return to the woods, with 

 all their chattering children, and become 

 the same wild cautious creatures they were 

 before." 



The BLUE JAY. (Garrulus cristatun.) This 

 elegant species is a native of North America, 

 considerably smaller than the European Jay, 

 with a tail much longer in proportion : the 

 head is handsomely crested, with loose silky 

 plumes ; bill black ; legs brown : the whole 

 bird is of a fine blue colour on the upper 

 parts, with the wings and tail marked by 

 uumerous black bars ; neck encircled with a 



BLUE JAY. (GARRULUS CHI STATUS.) 



black collar ; under parts blossom-colour, 

 with a slight cast of blue ; tail tipped with 

 white ; legs, feet, and thighs of a dusky 

 brown. Its note is less discordant than the 



European Jay ; but its manners are very 

 similar. It is said to be a great destroyer of 

 maize or Indian com, often assembling in 

 large flocks to devour it. 



Mr. Gosse, in his ' Canadian Naturalist,' 

 thus speaks of this bird, in his observations 

 m ade during the month of December. " The 

 Blue Jay continues as numerous and as noisy 

 as ever. His harsh screaming voice may be 

 heard above that of all the other feathered 

 inhabitants of our groves, all the year 

 through. A beautiful bird he is, with his 

 bright violet, white, and sky-blue coat, long j 

 tail, and pointed crest ; and by his airs and i 

 grimaces he appears to have" HO mean idea | 

 of his own personal attractions, and probably I 

 he may think his voice as charming as his ; 

 plumage, as he so continually gives us the | 

 benefit of his music. He appears to tyran- j 

 nize over his brethren occasionally. I once | 

 saw, in the south, a Blue Jay in close and ' 

 hot pursuit of a summer Red-bird ( Tanagra \ 

 Era), and Wilson records a parallel inci- ! 

 dent. He has other notes, besides his com- j 

 mon loud squall, some of which are difficult j 

 to recognize. In the clearing, the parties of i 

 these birds, for they are hardly numerous | 

 enough to be called flocks, generally fly high, ! 

 and alight about the summits of lofty trees ; j 

 >ut in the woods, particularly in spring, i 

 they as frequently choose a lower altitude. 

 They are wary, and rather difficult of ap- 



JELI/XVFISH. Tinder the heads " Acale- 

 pha," " Berfie," and " Medusa," will be found 

 various information applicable to the present 

 article, the popular name of " Jelly-fishes " 

 being very generally used (by the unscienti- 

 fic) to denote the different marine substances 

 forming that branch of the class RADIATA 

 which is comprised in the order Acalepha. 

 Extreme delicacy of structure is common to | 

 the whole group ; most of them have no j 

 hard support whatever, and the animals 

 when removed from their natural element 

 wholly lose their form ; but there are a few j 

 species which have a very thin cartilaginous 

 covering, and these retain a semblance of the 

 animal as it appeared when alive. We 

 find that in every climate the ocean swarms 

 with infinite multitudes of animals, which, 

 from their minuteness and transparency, 

 would be almost imperceptible, were it not 

 for the phosphorescent properties of some of 

 them being retidered evident on the slightest 

 agitation. All, however, are not equally mi- 

 nute : some grow to a large size, and their 

 forms are perfectly well known to the casual 

 observers of marine substances which lie on 

 every beach. Most of these are highly phos- 

 phorescent ; and in tropical regions, more 

 particularly, where they exist in the greatest 

 abundance, the path of a vessel is marked 

 by a brilliant line of glowing light, and the 

 whole surface of the ocean often displays a 

 beautiful luminosity. Even on our own 

 coasts a similar effect is very frequently ob- 

 served, though the luminous appearance is 

 vastly less brilliant. 



In ' Patterson's Introduction to Zoology ' 

 we find the following practical observations: 

 " Our admiration for the various func- 



