30 Bird Portraits 



from the ground. On a lining of finer roots are laid four or five 

 brownish or greenish eggs, spotted with yellowish brown. The young 

 are hatched by the middle or end of June. 



The Jay in spring is undoubtedly a reprobate. He cannot resist 

 the temptation to sneak through the trees and bushes, and when he 

 finds a nest of eggs temporarily left by its owner, to thrust his sharp 

 bill through the shells; even young birds are devoured. In the 

 autumn, however, the Jay is a hearty, open fellow, noisy and intent 

 on acorns and chestnuts. The woods ring with his loud screams, 

 as he travels through them with his companions. It is amusing at 

 this season to observe them obtaining chestnuts, a favorite food. 

 They drive their powerful bills into a nut and wrench it out of the 

 burr, then fly off with it to a convenient limb and hammer it open. 

 Many Jays spend the entire winter in the northern woods, subsisting 

 on nuts, but the large numbers observed in the fall are evidence that 

 many others are moving southward, where food is more plenty. 



Jays and squirrels are curiously associated ; both live in the 

 autumn and winter, innocently enough, on nuts and acorns; both, in 

 spring, poach on the eggs and young of birds. One becomes fond 

 of each of these rascals in spite of his undoubted villanies, and is 

 glad that though neither Squirrel nor Jay is protected by law, and 

 in some states both are constantly persecuted, neither seems to be 

 diminishing in numbers. 



In Europe, the Crow and the Jay have several relatives, many 

 of whom, such as the Magpie, Rook, and Jackdaw, share the family 

 characteristics. They are all thieves, clowns, and impudent fellows, 

 and yet win, if not affection, yet a certain degree of good-humored 

 toleration. 



