34 



THE SUNNY SOUTH OOLOGIST. 



will return with the warm summer sun and 

 these birds will be as bright and joyous as 

 before. It is one of our Litest, if not the la- 

 test bird to breed in the state, never begin- 

 ning to nest until July and often some es- 

 pecially tardy ones will be found building 

 their nests early in August. This nest is 

 made principally of soft fine thistle down 

 and is about three inches by two. Generally 

 this structure is placed three or four feet 

 from the ground in a thistle or small bush. 

 The eggs are from four to seven in num- 

 ber more often five; they are unspotted, of 

 a beautiful light blue tint after being blown. 

 Before this the yolk gives the shell the ap- 

 pearance of being pink. 



The Bluejay (Cyanocilla cristata) is one of 

 our most abundant birds. In winter it is 

 very sociable, coming into the yard and hop- 

 ping about the buildings after any morsel of 

 food that may chance to be there. It is gen- 

 erally found in the vicinity of a corn-crib in 

 winter, as then its chief article of food is corn ; 

 while in the summer months its diet is com- 

 posed almost of various worms and insects. 

 Being so much about the farm houses, this 

 bird is a great protection against hawks and 

 ■owls, rarely failing to drive them away. 

 Bather early in May the first sticks which 

 are to compose the nest are placed in position, 

 and in a week or so the first egg is deposited. 

 The nest is usually a rather slim affair, being 

 occasionally so thin that the eggs may be 

 easily counted from below; it is made most- 

 ly of sticks and fis lined thinly with grass. 

 The eggs are four or five in number, varying 

 from a light bluish drab to a light blue 

 ground color, spotted quite evenly over the 

 entire surface with lilac and light brown. 

 This species is very easily tamed and is one 

 ■of the hardiest of our birds. A moderate 

 .amount of ill-treatment, sufficient to kill 

 almost any other bird, has no perceptible 

 effect on it. In winter it is as lively and 

 ■spry as in spring or summer, and if the weath- 

 er suddenly grows extremely cold it is found 

 to be the more enlivened by its very severity. 

 This bird is accused, and quite justly, of 

 stealing the eggs of other smaller birds for 

 flood; the Chipping Sparrow seems to be a 

 favorite with it in this habit of plunder. 

 Mr. Bluejay will eat two or three eggs and 



then, pursued by the owners he will tri- 

 umphantly bear away the last one on his bill, 

 as if in mockery of their cries of anger and 

 alarm. 



The Bluejay is the only mocking bird in the 

 State. Its powers of mimicry are unexcelled. In 

 its vocabulary are many dozen cries of its own, 

 besides numbers of songs and chirps, peculiar to 

 other birds. Many a time has the writer mis- 

 taken the shrill screech of the Bluejay for the 

 cry of the Red-tailed Hawk! 



The Common Crow (Corvus frugivorsus) is a 

 regular resident, but occasionally, during the 

 coldest parts of the winter, it is somewhat in- 

 clined to go south a little ways. All iure familiar 

 witlvthe appearance of this bird. Early in the 

 spring it begins to nest, building a solid struc- 

 ture of sticks, moss, dry leaves, etc. ; in. which 

 the female deposits four, five or six eggs about 

 the 15th or 20th of April. The eggs are light-blue, 

 spotted and blotched over the white surface 

 with lilac and grayish brown. They measure 

 about 1.52 by 1.18) inches. The nest is placed in a 

 high tree, and is always well guarded by its 

 owners. In winter this species is often seen ill 

 small flocks, hovering about cattle yards and 

 slaughterhouses. Like the Bluejay. the Crow is 

 a great nest-robber, even taking half-fledged 

 birds from their nests to feed its own young. It 

 is very difficult to approach these birds with a 

 gun, and they are seldom shot except by sfcrate- 

 gem. 



The Hairy Woodpecker (Picus villosus) is one 

 of our most sociable winter friends, while in 

 summer its habits of nesting in the deepest 

 woods preclude the possibility of closely watch- 

 ing its breeding habits. Always seen singly in 

 winter, and, apparently having no particular 

 home or lodging place, it wanders from tree to 

 tree in search of food. In spring it nests early, 

 placing its eggs in holes in dead trees. The 

 height of the nest is from thirty to sixty feet, 

 and it is generally in such a position as to make 

 climbing very difficult and dangerous. The eggs 

 are four or five in number, pure white. If com- 

 pared with those of the Red-bearded Wood- 

 pecker, no difference can be found in many 

 cases. The female generally begins to set by the 

 middle of May. This species is not numerous, 

 although it is found over the entire State gener- 

 ally. 



The Downy Woodpecker (Picus pubescens) is 

 a much smaller species, and is still more familiar 

 than the previously described bird. Very often 

 a single individual takes up his abode in a hole 

 in some dead tree in the yard, in early winter, 

 and stays there until spring, never coming out 

 except for something to eat. But as spring 

 comes on these birds pair off and commence 

 their summer's labors. Their habits of nesting 

 are about the same as those of the rest of the 

 Picidae. The eggs are about the size and shape 



