44 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



people who do not know the jay when they see 

 it. In late winter, say toward the end of Febru- 

 ary, when I begin to be on the lookout for the 

 first bluebird of the year, I am all but certain to 

 have word brought to me by some one of the 

 village school-teachers that bluebirds have al- 

 ready come. Johnny This or Jimmy That saw 

 one near his house several weeks ago ! That 

 " several weeks ago " makes me suspicious, and 

 on following up the matter I discover that John 

 and James have seen a large blue bird, larger 

 than a robin, with some black and white on him 

 all white underneath and wearing a tall 

 crest or topknot. Then I know that they have 

 mistaken a blue bird for a bluebird. They have 

 seen a blue jay, a bird of a very different feather. 

 He has been with us all winter, as he always is, 

 and has been in sight from my windows daily. 

 So easy is it for boys and men to guess at things, 

 and guess wrong. 



The jay is a relative of the crow, and has 

 much of the crow's cleverness, with more than 

 the crow's beauty. Like the crow, if he has an 

 errand near houses, he makes a point of doing it 

 in the early morning before the folks who live 

 in the houses have begun to stir about. In fact, 

 he knows us, in some respects at least, better 

 than we know him, and habitually takes advan- 



