BIRD PARADISE 259 



member to have seen excelled in all my knowl- 

 edge of birds. I watched them for a while, but 

 could not make out just what they were trying 

 to do. The presiding of&cer, if there was one, 

 had several assistants, and every member of the 

 conclave had something to say, and I thought 

 said it over several times. The orchard where I 

 saw the party is a sort of favorite place with 

 them, and I notice they are fond of gathering 

 there very early in the morning. They can easily 

 reach it from the swamp and, I apprehend, the 

 acoustics of the place favor its selection with the 

 jays. Contrary to their usual custom, they went 

 directly back to the swamp, where I heard them 

 a little later, telling over doubtless the story of 

 the early morning. Their word vocabulary is 

 small, a single expletive serving for winter use, 

 but I fancy they vary the meaning of each call 

 by some subtle shade of expression known only 

 to the jays. 



Wednesday morning of last week gave the most 

 princely showing of nature life that has ever 

 fallen to my lot to see. The night before the 

 winter artist had been at work while men slept, 

 putting a robe studded with splendid jewels over 

 all the trees and fields in the great house. When 



