190 BLUE JAY. 



cents of black, and tipt with white; the interior sides of the 

 wing feathers are dusky black; tail long and cuneiform, com- 

 posed of twelve feathers of a glossy light blue, marked at half 

 inches with transverse curves of black, each feather being tipt 

 with white, except the two middle ones, which deepen into a 

 dark purple at the extremities. Breast and sides under the wings 

 a dirty white, faintly stained with purple; inside of the mouth, 

 the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black; iris of the eye hazel. 



The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods, 

 frequenting the thickest settlements, as well as the deepest re- 

 cesses of the forest, where his squalling voice often alarms the 

 deer, to the disappointment and mortification of the hunter; one 

 of whom informed me, that he made it a point, in summer, to 

 kill every Jay he could meet with. In the charming season of 

 spring, when every thicket pours forth harmony, the part per- 

 formed by the Jay always catches the ear. He appears to be, 

 among his fellow-musicians what the trumpeter is in a band, 

 some of his notes having no distant resemblance to the tones of 

 that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing through 

 a great variety of modulations, according to the particular hu- 

 mour he happens to be in. When disposed for ridicule, there is 

 scarce a bird whose peculiarities of song he cannot tune his notes 

 to. When engaged in the blandishments of love, they resemble 

 the soft chatterings of a duck; and while he nestles among the 

 thick branches of the cedar, are scarce heard at a few paces dis- 

 tance; but no sooner does he discover your approach, than he 

 sets up a sudden and vehement outcry, flying off, and screaming 

 with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered tribes of 

 the neighbourhood to witness some outrageous usage he had re- 

 ceived. When he hops undisturbed among the high branches of 

 the oak and hickory, they become soft and musical; and his calls 

 of the female, a stranger would readily mistake for the repeated 

 creakings of an ungreased wheelbarrow. All these he accompa- 

 nies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which 

 the whole tribe of Jays are so remarkable, that, with some other 

 peculiarities, they might have very well justified the great Swe- 



