RESIDENT BIRDS IN OUR NORTHERN STATES 265 



61. The Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata. 



MATERIAL : Picture, mounted bird, old nest. Outdoor observations. 



This is our most noisy and most showy winter resident. 

 He is indeed a beautiful bird ; but it must be said that his 

 heart is not as good as his dress is splendid. You cannot 

 fail to identify the blue jay. He is a little larger than a 

 robin. The color of both male and female is blue above; 

 the head is adorned with a fine crest ; the wings and tail 

 are a bright blue, barred with black. The song is a clear, 



FIG. 53. BLUE JAY. 



whistling, bell note, sounding like deedle-leet, deedle- 

 leet ; but it is quite loud, and does not at all resemble 

 the feeble chirps of the warblers. Its loud scream, jay, 

 jay, jay, is heard much more commonly, and sounds very 

 cheerful on a crisp, winter day. The nest is built in small 

 trees from ten to twenty feet above the ground ; it is made 

 of small sticks, coarse roots, and twigs, and lined with finer 

 material and leaves. The jays seem to be most common in 

 oak woods, and often build quite near to houses. 



Food. The jays eat anything which a bird can eat: 

 seeds, buds, acorns, frogs, etc. During the breeding season, 



