170 Bird Comrades 



wild jays. On the contrary, he treated us to all kinds 

 of odd, imitative, mirth-provoking performances that no 

 self-respecting jay in the open would think of enacting. 

 After several months of cage life he was given his liberty. 

 Now, indeed, he showed his lack of jay bringing up, and 

 how little, in some respects, mere instinct can be relied on. 

 When evening came he perched on a limb of the maple 

 tree before the house, in a place as exposed, as he could 

 well find, not knowing that there was more danger in an 

 outdoor roost than in his shielding cage. I could not 

 induce him to come down, nor could I climb out to the 

 branch on which he sat, and so I was compelled to leave 

 him out of doors. 



The next morning he was safe, the screech owls of the 

 neighborhood having overlooked him in some way. The 

 next evening he went to roost in the same exposed place, 

 and that was the last I ever saw of my beloved pet. He 

 was undoubtedly killed and devoured by the owls. Had 

 he been reared out of doors in the usual way, his parents 

 would have taught him to find a roosting place that was 

 secure from predatory foes. No one has ever seen a wild 

 jay sleeping in an exposed place. 



In her charming little book, " True Bird Stories," Mrs. 

 Olive Thorne Miller says that she "once watched the 

 doings in a crow nursery." I quote: 



"The most important thing the elders had to do was 

 to teach the youngsters how to fly, and every little while 

 one or both of the parents would fly around the pasture, 

 giving a peculiar call as they went. This call appeared to 



