?2 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



in his bill as he was loading up. Wilson calls 

 attention to the fact that by this habit of carrying 

 off kernels and seeds, the jay becomes an impor- 

 tant tree-planting agent. 



What a good business man the blue jay would 

 make ! All his motions are like the unique load- 

 ing up performance time - saving, decided, di- 

 rect. Once during the first morning after his re- 

 turn he flew down to the boxes from the tree over 

 them and came so straight he looked as if falling 

 through the air. He pecked at the bark of the 

 trees as indifferently as he had examined the corn 

 the squirrels had nibbled, but I thought he drank 

 with some gusto. He seemed to be catching the 

 rain drops that were running down the sides of 

 the trees and filling the crevices of the bark. 



After he had flown off and the gray squirrels 

 were comfortably settled at breakfast, he came 

 dashing back round the corner in such a hurry 

 he almost struck the squirrel on the lower corn 

 box. The first thing I saw was a confusion of 

 blue feathers and gray fur, and then a blue jay 

 flying off to the evergreen, and a gray squirrel 

 shaking his tail excitedly and starting from one 

 side of the box to the other trying to collect his 

 wits. By this time the blue jay had recovered 

 from his surprise, and seeing that it was only a 

 squirrel, hopped about in the spruce as full of 

 business as if the collision had been planned. Not 

 so with the poor squirrel ! He sprang up on the 



