Blue Jays at Home 



269 



and dropping from limb to limb, until she stepped into her nest. Gradually 

 she allowed me to come nearer, until I could sit within eight feet of her 

 and walk away without her flying. Now I brought the camera, placing it, 

 without concealment, on a home-made stand, on a level with the nest, 

 and running a string back to a near-by fence. Strange to say, the bird did 



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BLUE JAY FEEDING 



not seem to have any fear of the camera, and I gradually moved it nearer 

 the nest until it was less than three feet from her and she allowed me to 

 make bulb exposure of one- half second, change the plate and reset the 

 shutter. With one hand against the tree in which the nest was built, I 

 made another exposure with the other hand, put back the slide, took down 

 the camera and left her still brooding her voung. 



May 15, four eggs hatched, and the next day the fifth egg had disap- 

 peared. It would be interesting to know if the Jay carried away any un- 

 hatched egg. May 20, the eyes of the young had not yet opened, and 

 what ugly-looking babies they were! But they appeared so only to me, for 

 the mother-bird would stand on the edge of her nest and look at them, 

 this way and that, with apparent admiration before settling down to brooding. 



In all my watching these birds, not once did they bring a bird's egg to 



