THE BLUEJAY 
Et ,F YOU desire a pet to test the patience of 
| the household, by all means take a nestling 
bluejay and rear it. It will be happy all 
day long, if it can find enough mischief to 
occupy itstime. It will destroy books and 
“\ furniture, especially the upholstery, and 
\S carry off all the pens, pins and jewelry that 
~ it can lay beak upon. It will soon learn 
to make raids upon the kitchen, in fact, there is 
little in the household that it will not meddle with 
in the course of its active life. Nevertheless, despite 
its records of mischief, and despite its beautiful 
plumage, the bluejay as a pet, cannot equal the 
crow. 
As a wild bird, the bluejay often remains in the 
northern States during the winter. For most of the 
year the jays live in mixed woodlands in noisy flocks, 
screaming and chattering in a most disagreeable 
manner, from the hearer’s standpoint. They espec- 
ially enjoy harrowing a sleepy owl, and by their 
scolding bring all the other birds of the forest to 
join in abusing this fluffy enemy, who snaps his beak 
and ruffles his feathers in a vain attempt to fright- 
en his tormentors. 
‘The jays are such excellent bird linguists that 
they learn to imitate many sounds; they also enjoy 
playing practical jokes at the expense of other birds. 
For instance, a jay will suddenly give the scream of 
a hawk, and then seems to enjoy seeing all the scared 
little birds slip away in fright. It will also imitate 
a small bird in distress, and thus bring about it a 
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