BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



209 



jays which nest in the locahties mentioned already were incubating their 

 eggs or had young in the nest. In southern and western New York the 

 Blue jay makes its nest in April. It is usually placed in an evergreen, 

 although small deciduous trees are often selected, and is composed of sticks, 

 leaves, bark and plant fibers, and lined with dead twigs of hemlock or 

 strips of bark and other fine 

 materials. The eggs are com- 

 monly deposited from the 20th 

 of April to the 15th of May. 

 They are from 3 to 6 in num- 

 ber, pale olive greenish or 

 buffy in ground color, spotted 

 more or less profusely with 

 brown. They average i.i by 

 .82 inches in size. 



The Blue jay is one of 

 the noisy birds of our wood- 

 lands, especially when he sees 

 a man, a hawk or any large 

 object moving through the 

 forest. He seems always 

 to be shouting his high 

 shrill "jay "or " ydh-ydh-ydW : 

 and also imitates very suc- 

 cessfully the scream of the 

 Red-shouldered hawk, and has 

 other notes resembling the 

 tooting of a small bugle. His ^^""^ ^"^'' ""'' ^""^ '^^' 



activity is almost incessant and his mischief never ending. Most naturalists 

 consider the Blue jay one of the worst nest robbers we have, and there 

 is little doubt that they are correct, for my own experience shows that he 



is extremely fond of birds' eggs and young birds; but he also does some 

 14 



Photo bv L. S. Horton 



