NATURAL HISTORY. 



231 



along the sill half concealing it. It is fairly 

 well knit together, of the finest twigs and 

 lint, and is lined with the softest material. 

 The rustic youths shun it, however, for 

 they claim it is infested with vermin. The 

 three eggs are of a murky white, a shade 

 darker at the larger end. On these Mrs. 

 Pewee sits, day in and day out, while her 

 liege lord whiles away his time in bringing 

 her an occasional morsel of food, for he 

 lacks of prodigality; and in keeping in 

 mind his two-syllable song: " Pee-wee! 

 pee-wit! " 



After the chicks are hatched Mr. Pewee, 

 finds new energy, probably inspired by the 

 thought that the more food he drops into 

 the craw of his young, the sooner they will 

 become able to maintain themselves. And 

 so there is a lavish supply of food, and the 

 young brood grows remarkably fast. 

 Should you walk under the old bridge and 

 approach sufficiently near the nest to dis- 

 turb its inmates, there will be a sudden 

 whirr of wings and a sharp chattering of 

 bills about your head from the parent birds, 

 but no outcry, for even in distress the for- 

 lorn pewee manifests a muteness that 

 awakens our solicitude and appeals to our 

 sympathy. 



THE BLUE JAY SHOULD BE PROTECTED. 



Winona, Minn. 



Editor Recreation: In your editorial 

 comment, under the heading " A Brutal 

 Side Hunt," on page 486 of the November 

 Recreation, you refer to blue jays and 

 some other birds, and to some animals as 

 beautiful and harmless creatures, and in- 

 quire whether woodpeckers and blue jays 

 are not protected by the laws of Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Your reference to the blue jay as harm- 

 less interests me exceedingly. My ob- 

 servation and information have led me 

 to believe him an enemy of all the small 

 songsters, and a bird to be dealt with ac- 

 cordingly. I have seen blue jays pounce 

 upon the nests of robins, blue birds, and 

 sparrows and tear them to pieces. I have 

 shot them to find the bleeding fledgling in 

 their cruel talons. The impaling of the 

 bodies of small birds on thorns, has been 

 charged to the account of blue jays. I 

 knew of one instance where a canary was 

 killed, in his cage on a perch, by a blue jay. 



For years I have made it a point to shoot 

 blue jays whenever the opportunity offered, 

 and my good wife uses her rifle on them, 

 with destructive effect. If the bird should 

 be dealt with as a desirable creature, I am 

 wrong, and have done wrong, and I ask 

 for light on the subject. 



I believe, however, I can furnish abun- 

 dant testimony as to their predatory habits. 

 Their numbers seem to increase each year. 



hereabouts, while our choice native birds 

 become scarcer. 



Please let us hear from you, through 

 Recreation. Frank L. Randall. 



ANSWER. 



Last year the Department of Agriculture 

 published in its " Year Book " a paper on 

 " The Blue Jay and its Food," by Prof. F. 

 E. L. Beal. In the course of his investiga- 

 tions, Professor Beal secured testimony 

 from scores of observers, and examined the 

 stomachs of 292 blue jays. The oft-re- 

 peated charge of nest-robbery and murder 

 brought against the jay was thoroughly in- 

 vestigated, and on this point Professor Beal 

 declares there is a great discrepancy be- 

 tween the testimony of field observers and 

 the results of stomach examinations. " The 

 accusations of eating eggs and young birds 

 are certainly not sustained, and it is futile 

 to attempt to reconcile the conflicting 

 statements on this point, which must be 

 left until more accurate observations have 

 been made." Of the whole 292 stomachs 

 examined, only 2 contained the remains of 

 birds, and only 3 contained egg-shells from 

 the eggs of wild birds; but 11 contained 

 shells from the eggs of domestic fowls. 



That the blue jay does occasionally rob 

 the nest^s of other birds, and, once in a 

 great while, devour a young bird, there is 

 no room to doubt; but the actual harm 

 done in this way should not be overesti- 

 mated. Professor Beal determines the 

 amount of insect food eaten by the jay 

 each year as 23 per cent, of the whole, 

 vegetable food 75.7 per cent, and miscel- 

 laneous animal food at 1.3 per cent. The 

 stomachs examined came from 22 States 

 and territories, and Professor Beal's con- 

 clusion is that " the blue jay certainly does 

 far more good than harm." The bulk of the 

 vegetable food consumed by the bird is 

 corn, and the loss of it is made good, 10 

 times over, in the destruction of noxious 

 insects and mice. 



I have never before heard of a blue jay 

 impaling anything on a thorn, as is the 

 well-known habit of the Northern shrike, 

 or butcher bird. — Editor. 



Rather an odd experience fell to my lot 

 some time ago, while at Echo lake, in 

 Northern New Jersey, where I had gone 

 for a day's bass fishing. 



While rowing the boat across the lake, 

 24 of a mile, I saw something swimming in 

 the water some 200 feet away. I overtook 

 it and discovered a rather tired rabbit, 

 swimming for dear life. I reached out and 

 gathered it in out of the wet, and with a 

 piece of twine tied the rabbit to the seat, 

 where it sat in the sun, perfectly quiet. 



It shivered for a time, but soon became 

 warm and animated. I kept it in the boat 



