92 Bird Comrades 



and nestlings of more desirable birds. I assure you, 

 however, that I make this statement with reluctance and 

 reserve, for the handsome blue-coat is one of our most 

 cunning and interesting birds, and would be greatly 

 missed if he were exterminated. 



The blue jay is also a plucky bird, as I discovered one 

 day not so very long ago. A pair of jays had a nest in a 

 little park in front of my house, and one day one of the 

 youngsters, which were still unable to fly, dropped to the 

 ground. Fearing the cats or evilly disposed boys might 

 catch the little fellow, I thought to do him and his 

 parents a good turn by catching him and putting him 

 up in one of the trees beyond the reach of his enemies. 

 After quite a chase I succeeded in catching him. But 

 the parent birds, flitting and calling in the trees, did not 

 understand my well-meant intentions, and so one of 

 them swung down and struck me on the top of the head 

 with so much force that, either with his bill or his claws, 

 he punctured the skin and made the blood come, leaving 

 a scar on my crown for quite a while. The pesky thing! 

 I think he might have known that I was his friend but 

 he didn't, his instinct not being a sure guide that time. 

 But who can blame him? Not an hour afterwards the 

 youngling again fell to the ground, when some children 

 found it and killed it without the least excuse for their 

 action. In such a case how could the parent birds dis- 

 tinguish between friend and foe ? They found their little 

 one lying dead on the ground, and mourned for it with 

 heart-broken cries. 



