XL 



THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN. 



The blue-jay came out of the egg with his 

 miud made up. He always knew exactly what 

 he wanted, and never doubted that he knew 

 how to get it. I wrote of this bird some time 

 ago, but he was then a comparatively new ac- 

 quaintance. He lived with us many months 

 after that, and became much more familiar ; for 

 besides being slow to feel thoroughly at home, 

 he was very young, and he grew in wisdom with 

 age. So I have more to say of him. 



Human society was necessary to the jay ; he 

 cared for the other birds of the room only as 

 objects on which to play tricks for his own 

 amusement. He was peculiar, too, in never 

 liking more than one friend at a time, and was 

 very decided in his opinions of people, having 

 a distinctly different reception for each one of 

 the household, as well as for strangers. His 

 mistress was always his prime favorite ; and 

 although during my absence from home he 



