MEADOWLARK 73 



enjoy driving and teasing a Hawk. They arc 

 like Crows, too, in the amount of noise they make 

 about the business of nesting and feeding the 

 young. Never again will a pair of Jays be 

 allowed to nest near one dwelling! 



Besides animal food Jays eat seeds, and are 

 ever in search of small nuts and acorns, of which 

 they hide away a surplus for future use. 



The nest is bulky and brushy, usually placed 

 in a stout crotch of a wide spreading tree rather 

 high overhead. Four to six grayish eggs, spotted 

 with brown, are laid. The young birds' first 

 feathers come in brightly blue, like those of the 

 parents. 



Emerson, alone I believe among observers, 

 declares that the Blue Jay does "more good than 

 harm." But when I see a whole neighborhood 

 of song-birds silenced and terrorized by the pass- 

 ing of a troop of these feathered Uhlans, I can 

 only wonder what reason the philosopher had 

 for his statement. Perhaps he thought of the 

 flash of color which these bold .azure wings add 

 to our dun landscape after most bright-colored 

 birds have followed the sun southward. 



MEADOWLAKK 



Was it not a Meadowlark who, in the fable, 

 postponed moving her nest fledglings while the 

 farmer sent requests for friends and neighbors 



