BLUE JAY. 3 
The Blue Jay builds a large nest, frequently in the cedar, sometimes 
on an apple-tree, lines it with dry, fibrous roots, and lays five eggs of 
a dull olive, spotted with brown. The male is particularly careful of 
not being heard near the place, making his visits as silently and se- 
cretly as possible. His favorite food is chestnuts, acorns, and Indian 
corn. He occasionally feeds on bugs and caterpillars, and sometimes 
pays a plundering visit to the orchard, cherry rows, and potato patch ; 
and has been known, in times of scarcity, to venture into the barn, 
through openings between the weather boards. In these cases he ie 
extremely active and silent, and, if surprised in the fact, makes his 
escape with precipitation, but without noise, as if conscious of his 
criminality. 
Of all birds, he is the most bitter enemy to the Owl. No sooner has 
he discovered the retreat of one of these, than he summons the whole 
feathered fraternity to his assistance, who surround the glimmering 
solitaire, and attack him from all sides, raising such a shout as may be 
heard, in a still day, more than half a mile off When, in my hunting 
excursions, I have passed near this scene of tumult, I have imagined 
to myself that I heard the insulting party venting their respective 
charges with all the virulency of a Billingsgate mob ; the Owl, mean- 
while, returning every compliment with a broad, goggling stare. The 
war becomes louder and louder, and the Ow] at length, forced to betake , 
‘himself to flight, is followed by his whole train of persecutors, until 
driven beyond the boundaries of their jurisdiction. 
But the Blue Jay himself is not guiltless of similar depredations with 
the Owl, and becomes in his turn the very tyrant he detested, when 
he sneaks through the woods, as he frequently does, and among the 
thickets and hedge-rows, plundering every nest he can find of its 
eggs, tearing up the callow young by piecemeal, and spreading alarm 
and sorrow around him. The cries of the distressed parents soon bring 
together a number of interested spectators, (for birds in such circum- 
stances seem truly to sympathize with each other,) and he is some- 
times attacked with such spirit as to be under the necessity of making 
a speedy retreat. oy 
upon him by his name. At last, during a severe frost, the dog was, by that means, 
excited to attack a cow big with calf, when the poor animal fell on the ice, an 
was much hurt: the Jay was complained of as a nuisance; and its owner was 
obliged to destroy it.” They feed indiscriminately, and, according to cireum- 
stances, on either animal or vegetable substances; plundering nests of their eggs 
and young, and even, in the more exposed farm-yards, disappointing the hopes of 
the mistress, in the destruction of a favorite brood. They are also robbers of or- 
' chards and gardens of their finest fruits; but, when without the reach of these luxu- 
ries, they will be content to satisfy their hunger with Nature’s own productions, the 
wild berries, or fruits and seeds of the forest and the field. 
Several new species have been added to the:North American list, some of which 
are described by the Prince of Musignano; and, in addition, we may mention one 
new species, published by Dr. Richardson and Mr. Swainson, in the Arctic Zoology. 
The only specimen brought bomie was killed on the roof of the dwelling-house at 
Fort Franklin, and was so similar to the Canada Jay, that it was not then recognized 
as a distinct species. The chief’ distinctions mentioned in the above work are the 
shorter bill, broader at the base, and narrower on the ridge; the plumage looser 
than in G', Canadensis ; the secondaries proportionally longer, and all end in slender, 
but very distinct points, scarcely discernible in the Blue Jay, and not nearly so mueh 
developed a the Whisky-Jack. ‘Tail is shorter than the latter; the tarsus is more 
robust. — Ep. 
