2IO IN BIRD LAND, 



mother to her offspring. Do not ask me why, for 1 

 am not writhig a philosophical thesis. 



Birds have many natural enemies. I can still hear 

 the cries of a young bird that a sparrow-hawk had 

 seized in his talons and was bearing overhead. 

 What a savage cannibal he seemed to be ! Not for 

 anything would I cast undeserved odium on the re- 

 putation of any bird, but I fear very much that the 

 blue jay is both a robber and a murderer. In the 

 season when eggs and young birds are in the nest, 

 he has a sly, hang-dog air, which, to my mind, pro- 

 claims not only a guilty conscience, but also a sinis- 

 ter purpose. At other seasons he seems to have an 

 open, frank manner. It is true, I myself have never 

 seen him in the very act of robbing a fellow-bird's 

 nest, but I have often seen pewees, vireos, sparrows, 

 and goldfinches charge upon him with desperate fury 

 when he came in the vicinity of their homesteads. 

 Indeed, all the smaller birds seem to have a mortal 

 terror of him, which can be accounted for only on 

 the ground that he is known to be a highwayman. 



A farmer friend, who loves the birds, and has none 

 of the unreasoning prejudice against them sometimes 

 displayed by country folk, told me that he once saw 

 a blue jay pounce upon a chippie's nest, snatch up a 

 callow bantling in his bill, and fly off with- it across 

 the field to his nest. In a few moments he returned, 

 and bore away another nestling. By this time the 

 farmer's ire was aroused, and he got his gun and put 

 an end to the feathered brigand's life on his return 

 for the third mouthful. This is more than circum- 



