The Birds and Poets 33 



always have the appearance of being "tailor 

 made." They are trim, neat and genteel, almost 

 to primness. A small flock of five flew into the 

 top of a soft maple in my yard about the 20th of 

 April, and announced their presence by their char- 

 acteristic subdued call, which Thoreau describes 

 as their "beady note." To one whose ears are 

 attentive to bird calls, this is usually the first 

 sign of the cedar-bird's presence, for the call 

 is unusual and absolutely distinctive, somewhat 

 resembling a subdued "z" sound made by breath- 

 ing through a comb covered with tissue paper. 

 The conspicuous crest and neat grayish-brown 

 plumage, with this characteristic call, make iden- 

 tification easy. 



The saucy blue jay, with all his egg-stealing 

 proclivities and his quarrelsome habits, compels 

 our admiration. He is impudent and disdainful 

 in his conduct toward other birds, and shows his 

 contempt for many of them by mimicking their 

 call notes. He will seldom permit another bird 

 of any kind to perch in the same tree with him. 

 But, after all, his conduct seems more inspired 

 by an excess of hilarious spirits than by any ill 

 humor, and so we pardon him for his noise, and 

 love him for his saucy enthusiasm. While the 

 jay has a number of short notes which he uses 

 occasionally, apparently to mimic other birds, in 

 addition to his customary "jay! jay!" (or "maket 

 make!" as my small boy interprets it), few have 

 ever heard his real song. He has a pretty war- 



