1 84 What Birds Have Done With Me 



comfort to the plaintiffs bringing this case. With 

 regard to the shells found in the stomachs, in all 

 fairness the one that resembled the shell of a 

 hen's egg should be excluded as it is a well-known 

 fact that such a fragment is often thrown out 

 from back doors, where Jays come to look for 

 scraps, especially before people are up in the 

 morning. In one of the two remaining cases the 

 shell was thought to be that of a grouse, found 

 late in August, long after their nesting season. 

 No evidence of nest robbing in that find. The 

 third was the shell of a song bird, but in the 

 breeding season all birds drop eggs on the ground 

 every where and it is to be questioned if it had 

 ever been in a nest. With regard to the frag- 

 ments of birds found in the stomach, one was a 

 part of a nestling, but there is no proof that it was 

 either killed or taken from a nest by my client, 

 for even people who have next to no knowledge of 

 birds or bird life, know that young birds some- 

 times die in the nest from various causes and the 

 first thing that the mother would be likely to do 

 would be to throw it out of the nest, where any- 

 thing might pick it up, although no nest robber. 



With regard to the last and final examination, 

 it furnishes no proof of wrong-doing upon the 

 part of a Jay, for it is clearly evidence of the 

 wrong-doing of a cat, the fragments clearly be- 

 ing the remains of a cat's supper. Gentlemen of 



