Robbers of the Air 



about its own affairs. I once watched one dash into 

 a thorn bush and haul a featherless young thrush from 

 its nest, heedless of the vehement protestations of the 

 distressed mother bird. So intent was the murderer 

 upon its task that it came and hammered the life out of 

 its helpless victim on the branch of a tree within forty 

 yards of me without becoming aware of my presence 

 until I stirred. 



It is difficult to determine exactly what jays feed 

 their young upon, as the sustenance is brought along in 

 the crop and regurgitated. I spent a whole week study- 

 ing the birds shown in our illustration (facing page 52), 

 and only once saw something suggestive of the yolk of 

 an egg trickle from the bill of one of the adults. 



Everybody knows that birds of this species in 

 captivity easily learn to imitate dogs barking, cats 

 mewing, and other sounds, but I was astonished to 

 discover that the male of the pair under observa- 

 tion could mimic the alarm note of a blackbird, the 

 mewing of a cat, and even the plop-plopping sounds of 

 cows drawing their feet from boggy ground in a field 

 close by. 



Nearly all our seagulls, although beautiful in appear- 

 ance and graceful in movement, leave a lot to be 

 desired when their habits are judged from a purely 

 human standpoint of view. Personally, I consider the 

 character of the great black-backed gull the most objec- 

 tionable, and that of the kittiwake the most engaging. 

 Nothing in the shape of food, or the mischief done in 

 obtaining it, appears to come amiss to the former bird. 



5* 



