122 IN THE GREEN LEAF 



like shooting at a rabbit. The jay knows his 

 flight to be weak, and that is the reason of all 

 his stealthy manoeuvring. As a check to the 

 creeping and crawling denizens of the hedges, 

 he deserves some amount of consideration ; for 

 one of his good qualities is that he is a clever 

 mouse hunter, and he fulfils the office of tree 

 planter. Acorns are the favourite food of this 

 bird in the fall ; so very partial is he to them, 

 that they are stored. The jay stocks them away 

 for future use in hard times. Retentive as his 

 memory is, one or two of his little earth-stores 

 get forgotten, and then young oaks shoot up. 



You will often hear jays all about you with- 

 out seeing one, but you can soon make them 

 show up, if game are not hatching out in the 

 coverts ; for in that case you would not be 

 allowed to enter them. If the coast is clear, 

 walk rapidly up one of the narrow ridges and 

 down another, brushing the stems and twigs 

 as you go ; then cut off in another direction 

 and back again ; and before they have had 

 time to sneak up and find out where the noise 

 comes from, they hear it in another place. 

 They then get bewildered, and they clutter 

 up over the trees like so many feathered luna- 

 tics, squawking. 



