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seen these birds collecting sticks, etc., as early as the 

 firsrt week in March. 



SUCK HENS' EGGS AND KILL, EIRDS. 



The Blue Jay and alsc< the "Scrub Jay" {Aphelocoma 

 floridana), are in bad repute among the Florida farm- 

 ers, from the fact that they, (particularly the "Scrub 

 Jay") suck the eggs of chickens. They also eat the 

 eggs of many kinds of wild birds and whenever a good 

 chance offers they will attack and kill the young of 

 their feathered neighbors. 



WHAT A MASSACiHiUSETTS NATURALIST SAYS. 



In reference to the food of the Blue Jay, Mr. E. A. 

 Samuels writes as follows: 



"Its food is more varied than that of almost any other bird 

 that we have. In winter the berries of the cedar, barberry, or 

 blackthorn, with the few eg-gs or cocoons of insects that it is 

 able to find, constitute its chief sustenance. In early spring 

 the opening buds of shrubs, caterpillars and other insects, af- 

 ford it a meagre diet. Later in the spring and through the 

 greater part of summer, the eggs and young of the smaller 

 birds constitute its chief food, varied by a few insects and 

 early berries. Later in the summer and in early autumn, 

 small fruits, grains and a few insects afford it a bountiful pro- 

 vender; and later in the autumn when the frosts have burst 

 open the burs of chestnuts and beechnuts and exposed the 

 brown ripe fruit to view, these form a palatable and accepta- 

 ble food, and a large share of these delicious nuts fall to the 

 portion of these busy and garrulous birds." 



STATEMENTS FROM OTHER OBSERVERS. 



Mr. F. E. L. Beal in his paper on "The Blue Jay and 

 Its Food," publishes the following paragraphs from 

 three reliable field observers which show plainly that 

 the Blue Jay delights to suck eggs and carry off young 

 birds: 



