OTHER NEIGHBORS IN THE TREES. 231 



more numerous and exempt from the interruption of their 

 enemies, the red squirrel, blue racer, and idle gunners, all 

 of whom were abundant and destructive in their former 

 resorts. They soon became so familiar as to feed about 

 our yards and corn-cribs. 



5. At the dawn of every pleasant day throughout the 

 year, the nesting season excepted, a stranger in my house 

 might well suppose that all the axles in the county were 

 screeching aloud for lubrication, hearing the harsh and 

 discordant utterances of these birds. During the day the 

 poultry might be frequently seen running into their hid- 

 ing-places, and the gobbler with his upturned eye search- 

 ing the heavens for the enemy, all excited and alarmed by 

 the mimic utterances of the adept ventriloquists, the jays 

 simulating the cries of the red-shouldered and the red- 

 tailed hawks. 



6. The domestic circle of the barn-yard evidently never 

 gained any insight into the deception by experience ; for, 

 though the trick was repeated every few hours, the excite- 

 ment would always be re-enacted. 



7. During the period of incubation silence reigned ; not 

 a note or utterance was heard ; and it required close scru- 

 tiny to discover the numerous individual jays concealed in 

 the dense clumps of limbs and foliage. If, however, a 

 stranger, a dog, cat, hawk, or owl chanced to invade these 

 evergreen groups, the scene rapidly changed. 



8. With my person they became so familiar that I could 

 closely approach them, and sit for hours under the shade 

 of these trees without exciting their fears. A family ceme- 

 tery occupies a place beneath the evergreens. On one occa- 

 sion a lady, pensively bent over the grave of a departed 

 friend, strewing flowers, received a smart blow upon the 

 head. Alarmed, she arose, expecting to discover some 

 evil-disposed person in the vicinity. Her eye could not 

 ascertain the source of the blow, and she resumed her oc- 



