12 



BLUE JAY. 



cents of black, and tipt with white ; the interior sides of the wing 

 feathers are dusky black ; tail long and cuneiform, composed of 

 twelve feathers of a glossy light blue, marked at half inches with 

 transverse curves of black, each feather being tipt with white ex- 

 cept the two middle ones, which deepen into a dark purple at the 

 extremities. Breast and sides under the wings a dirty white, faintly 

 stained with purple ; inside of the mouth, the tongue, bill, legs and 

 claws, black; iris of the eye hazel. 



The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods, 

 frequenting the thickest settlements, as well as the deepest recesses 

 of the forest, where his squalling voice often alarms the deer, to the 

 disappointment and mortification of the hunter; one of whom in- 

 formed me, that he made it a point, in summer, to kill every Jay 

 he could meet with. In the charming season of spring, when every 

 thicket pours forth harmony, the part performed by the Jay always 

 catches the ear. He appears to be among his fellow musicians 

 what the trumpeter is in a band, some of his notes having no dis- 

 tant resemblance to the tones of that instrument. These he has 

 the faculty of changing through a great variety of modulations, ac- 

 cording to the particular humour he happens to be in. When dis- 

 posed for ridicule, there is scarce a bird whose peculiarities of song 

 he cannot tune his notes to. When engaged in the blandishments 

 of love they resemble the soft chatterings of a duck, and while he 

 nestles among the thick branches of the cedar, are scarce heard at a 

 few paces distance; but no sooner does he discover your approach^ 

 than he sets up a sudden and vehement outcry, flying off, and 

 screaming with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered 

 tribes of the neighbourhood to witness some outrageous usage he 

 had received. When he hops undisturbed among the high branches 

 of the oak and hickory, they become soft and musical; and his calls 

 of the female a stranger would readily mistake for the repeated 

 creakings of an ungreased wheelbarrow. All these he accompa- 

 nies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which 



