BLUE JAY. 7 



(which she does very gently) about his whiskers, and to clean 

 his claws from the minute fragments of chestnuts which hap- 

 pen to adhere to them. This attachment on the one part, and 

 mild condescension on the other, may, perhaps, be partly the 

 effect of mutual misfortunes, which are found not only to knit 

 mankind, but many species of inferior animals, more closely 

 together ; and shows that the disposition of the blue jay may 

 be humanised, and rendered susceptible of affectionate impres- 

 sions, even for those birds which, in a state of nature, he 

 would have no hesitation in making a meal of. 



He is not only bold and vociferous, but possesses a consider- 

 able talent for mimicry, and seems to enjoy great satisfaction 

 in mocking and teasing other birds, particularly the little 

 hawk (F. sparverius), imitating his cry wherever he sees him, 

 and squealing out as if caught: this soon brings a number of his 

 own tribe around him, who all join in the frolic, darting about 

 the hawk, and feigning the cries of a bird sorely wounded, and. 

 already under the clutches of its devourer ; while others lie 

 concealed in bushes, ready to second their associates in the 

 attack. But this ludicrous farce often terminates tragically. 

 The hawk, singling out one of the most insolent and pro- 

 voking, sweeps upon him in an unguarded moment, and offers 

 him up a sacrifice to his hunger and resentment. In an 

 instant the tune is changed ; all their buffoonery vanishes, 

 and loud and incessant screams proclaim their disaster. 



Wherever the jay has had the advantage of education from 

 man, he has not only shown himself an apt scholar, but his 

 suavity of manners seems equalled only by his art and con- 

 trivances ; though it must be confessed that his itch for 

 thieving keeps pace with all his other acquirements. Dr 

 Mease, on the authority of Colonel Postell, of South Carolina, 

 informs me, that a blue jay which was brought up in the 

 family of the latter gentleman, had all the tricks and loquacity 

 of a parrot ; pilfered everything he could conveniently carry 

 off, and hid them in holes and crevices ; answered to his name 

 with great sociability, when called on ; could articulate a 



