Dusky, Gray, and Slate-colored 



do great damage to the trappers by stealing the bait from traps 

 set for martens and minks and by eating trapped game. They 

 will sit quietly and see you build a log trap and bait it, and then, 

 almost before your back is turned, you hear their hateful ca-ca-ca! 

 as they glide down and peer into it. They will work steadily, 

 carrying off meat and hiding it. I have thrown out pieces, and 

 watched one to see how much he would carry off. He flew 

 across a wide stream, and in a short time looked as bloody as a 

 butcher from carrying large pieces; but his patience held out 

 longer than mine. I think one would work as long as Mark 

 Twain's California jay did trying to fill a miner's cabin with 

 acorns through a knot-hole in the root. They are fond of the 

 berries of the mountain ash, and, in fact, few things come amiss ; I 

 believe they do not possess a single good quality except industry.** 

 One virtue not mentioned by Mr. Hardy is their prudent saving 

 from the summer surplus to keep the winter storeroom well sup- 

 plied like a squirrel's. Such thrift is the more necessary when a 

 clamorous, hungry family of young jays must be reared while the 

 thermometer is often as low as thirty degrees below zero at the 

 end of March. How eggs are ever hatched at all in a tempera* 

 ture calculated to freeze any sitting bird stiff, is one of the mys- 

 teries of the woods. And yet four or five fluffy little jays, that 

 look as if they were dressed in gray fur, emerge from the eggs 

 before the spring sunshine has unbound the icy rivers or melted 

 the snowdrifts piled high around the evergreens. 



Catbird 



(Gakoscoptes cafolinensis) Mocking-bird family i 



Called also: BLACK-CAPPED THRUSH 



Length 9 inches. An inch shorter than the robin. 



Male and Female Dark slate above; below somewhat paler; top 



of head black. Distinct chestnut patch under the tail, whicn 



is black; feet and bill black also. Wings short, more than 



two inches shorter than the tail. 

 Range British provinces to Mexico; west to Rocky Mountains, 



rarely to Pacific coast. Winters in Southern States, Central 



America, and Cuba. 



Migrations May. November. Common summer resident. 



80 



