tHE JAY. 115 



Familiarity Mimicry and food. 



be rendered very familiar, and will catch and re- 

 peat a variety of sounds. One of them has been 

 heard to imitate so exactly the noise made by 

 the action of a saw, as to induce passengers to 

 suppose that a carpenter was at work in the 

 house. 



A jay, kept by a person in the north of Eng- 

 land had learned, at the approach of cattle, to 

 set a cur dog upon them, by whistling and calling 

 him by his name. One winter, during a severe 

 frost, the dog was by this means excited to at- 

 tack a cow big with calf; when the poor animal 

 fell on the ice, and was much hurt. The jay was 

 complained of as a nuisance, and its owner was 

 obliged to destroy it* 



Birds of this species feed in general on acorns, 

 nuts, seeds, and fruit of all kinds; and in sum- 

 mer they are very injurious to gardens, from 

 their devouring the peas and cherries. Mr. 

 Wallis> in his Natural History of Northumber- 

 land, says, " They come two or three together 

 out of the wood into my little garden at Simon- 

 burn, in the rasberry and gooseberry season, and 

 can hardly be frightened away, proclaiming it, 

 as it were, in loud clamours, from tree to tree to 

 be their own property." 



IP 2 



