6 



these birds are, and the development of 

 reason has been the result of a desire 

 for self protection during the satisfac- 

 tion of their uncontrollable curiosity. 

 A lengthy description of the character of 

 these birds is not permitted here, but a 

 couple of references will be given in 

 proof of their claims to intellectual re- 

 cognition. A crow in my possession 

 learned to hang what meat he did not 

 want for immediate use upon a nail. On 

 the removal of the nail he resorted to 

 the subterfuge of hiding it and dropped 

 it through a knot-hole in the fence. A 

 dog in the next yard soon learned to 

 look for this hidden portion of the corv- 

 ian daily ration, and, in his impatience, 

 showed his nose to the hole while the 

 crow was feeding. A short period of 

 corviau consideration resulted in a 

 roundabout waik to the hole and a 

 sudden sharp " jab " with the beak sent 

 the surprised canine elsewhere for his 

 pickings, and never again did that crow 

 hide any of his meat in that knot-hole, 

 but buried it where he could watch it 

 constantly. 



This is but one experience of many. 

 For wit and humor as well as corvian 

 curiosity and cunning, the jay has with 

 us no equal. Watch him in the woods 

 or try to follow him. He is here, there 

 and everywhere when you least expect 

 him. In his foraging perigrinations he 

 suddenly discovers a blinking owl, and 

 immediately he yells, "' Jay, jay, jay," 

 and immediately, as though from the 

 purgatorial regions, arises from every- 

 where the reply. The woods are alive 

 with jays and pandemonium reigns for 

 a time till the unfortunate owl has again 

 escaped them. He is a vocalist of con- 

 siderable ability, a ventriloquist, a cynic, 

 a satirist, a humorist and sometimes 



Blue Jay. 

 (Cyanocetta cristata.) 



most profane. His vocabulary is as ex- 

 tensive and elaborate as our own, and 

 Mark Twain has said his profane vo- 

 cabulary is more extensive than that of 

 any animal save the domestic cat. His 

 powers of mimicry are such that you 

 can never be certain that he is a jay 

 until he calls " Jay," and then he speaks 

 it out in such a tome of ridicule that you 

 feel like a jay for not recognizing him. 

 He is a good fellow at heart though a 

 vagabond in action. Like man, he re- 

 quires congenial company to regulate 

 him, for at home attending to domestic 

 duties he is most devoted, while with 

 others of his own kind in distress he is 

 most self-sacrificing. 



The late Capt. Bendire, in his work 

 on " Life Histories of N. A. Birds," 

 tells a touching incident of a jay which 

 had in some manner become totally 

 blind and which was constantly guard- 

 ed by a flock of brother jays, who daily 

 provided it with food and led it back 

 and forward from the stream to drink. 

 Was ever human being more provoking 

 and attractive at once? 



To close on the question of character 

 I shall simply refer to the examples of 

 industry and ambitions git shown in the 

 irrepressible wren.that model of bubbling 

 and unrestrained energy. What an im- 

 portant position he seems to occupy as 

 the father of seven or eight chattering 

 juvenile wrens, and these keep him re- 

 minded of his responsibilities in their 

 clamor for food. 



The cheerful and less ostentatious but 

 equally persistent energy of the chicka- 

 dee, who has also six or seven babies to 

 feed, and the matter-of-fact little nut- 

 hatch, to whom time is grub and who, 

 therefore, has not time to sirig and 

 simply gives you a passing glance as he 

 wanders about the tree trunk crooning 

 out his little nasal " Yank, yank." 



The subject of songs of birds is in it- 

 self an exceedingly extensive one which 

 cannot be neglected in the present case. 

 With a reference to the various classes 

 of bird music I shall devote a time to 

 the character of songs. First we may 

 speak of instrumental selections in the 

 partridge's drumming and in the night- 

 hawk's boom previously referred to. The 

 telegraphic tattoo of the woodpeckers 

 from bush to bush across fields and ra- 

 vines or small bodies of water. The 

 birds perch upon a hard dead branch in 

 the top of a tall tree and the answering 

 calls can be easily recognized on a quiet 



