Concord, Mass.
1911.
May 26
(No 2)
[May 26, 1911]

Blue Jays at nest near cabin at Ball's Hill

  A pair of Blue Jays have nested and reared young
on the south side of Ball's Hill within a few yards
of one or another of my cabins almost if not quite
every year since 1892. Their nest this year is in
a pine about 30 yards from the well house. One may
look directly down on or into it from a foot path
just above for it is only about 6 feet above the
ground and the hill side rises very steeply. Whenever I
approach it closely the sitting bird flattens her body and
gradually raises her bill until it points nearly
straight up. Her mate is usually near at hand. I
never hear either bird screaming over the nest but one
(the [male] I think) habitually indulges in hawk cries. A few
days ago he mimicked the Red-shouldered, the Broad-winged
& the Cooper's Hawks and to-day, within the space of
a minute, he gave very perfect imitations of the
phee-e-o of the Red-shouldered, the barking spring
cry of the Cooper's and the shrill cla-cla-cla-cla of
the Sparrow Hawk. He must have seen me at the