COR V1D.E — THE CROWS. 275 



principal streets of riicliiiioiid, the same gentleman f<mncl tlie nest of these 

 birds in a lihic-bush, under the window uf a dwelling. In the summer of 

 1843 I saw a nest of the Jay, filled with young, in a tree standing near the 

 house of Mr. Audubon, in the eity of New York. The habits of no two 

 species can well be more unlike than are those which persecution on the 

 one hand and kind treatment on the otlier have developed in this bird. 



The lilue Jay, wherever found, is mo -e or less resident. This is espe- 

 cially the case in the more southern portions of its area of reproduction. In 

 Texas, Dr. Lincecum informs us, this Jay remains both sunniier and winter. 

 It is there said to build its nest of nmd, a material rarelv if ever used in 

 more northern localities ; and when placed not far from dwelling-houses, 

 it is lined with cotton thread, rags of calico, and the like. They are, he 

 writes, very intelligent and sensil)le birds, subsisting on insects, acorn-s, 

 etc. He has occasionally known them to destroy bats. In Texas the^ eem 

 to seek the protection of man, and to nest near dwellings as a nuaiis of 

 safety against Hawks. They nest but once a year, and lay but four eggs. 

 In a female dissected by him, he detected one hundred and twelve ova, and 

 from these data he infers that the natural life of a Jay is about thirty years. 



Mr. Allen mentions finding the Blue Jay in Kansas ejpially at home, 

 and as vivacious and even more ijavlv colored than at the North. While 

 it seemed to have forgotten none of the droll notes and fantastic ways 

 always to be expected from it, there was added to its manners that famil- 

 iarity which characterizes it in the more newly settled i)ortions of the 

 country, occasionally surprising one with some new exi)ression of feeling 

 or sentiment, or some unexpected eccentricity in its varied notes, perhaps 

 developed by the more southern surroundings. 



The Blue Jay is arboreal in its habits. It prefers the shelter and security 

 of thick co^'ers to more open ground. It is omnivorous, eating either ani- 

 mal or vegetable food, though with an apparent preference for the former, 

 feeding upon insects, their eggs and larvix?, and worms, wherever procurable. 

 It also lays up large stores of acorns and beech mast for food in winter, 

 when insects cannot be procured in sutHcient abundance. Even at this sea- 

 son it hunts for and devours in large quantities the eggs of the destructive 

 tent caterpillar. 



The Jay is charged with a propensity to destroy the eggs and young of the 

 smaller birds, and has even been accused of killing full-grown birds. I am 

 not able to verify these charges, but they seem to be too generally conceded 

 to be disputed. These are the ordy serious grounds of complaint that can 

 be brought against it, and are more than outweiglied, tenfold, by the immense 

 services it renders to man in the destruction of his enemies. Its depreda- 

 tions on the garden or the farm are too trivial to ])e mentioned. 



The Blue Jay is conspicuous as a musician. He exhibits a variety in his 

 }iotes, and occasionally a beavty and a harmony in his song, for which few 

 give him due credit. Wilson compares his position among our singing birds 



