224 BIRD ENEMIES. 



The jays have their enemies also, and need to keep 

 an eye on their own eggs. It would be interesting to 

 know if jays ever rob jays, or crows plunder 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 punctured. 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 

 and robins fairly " shrieked out their affright." The 

 news instantly spread in every direction, and appar- 

 ently every bird in town came to see that owl in the 



