BLUE JAY 



17 



this judicious observer, " is one of the most useflil agents in the 

 economy of nature, for disseminating forest trees, and other ru- 

 " ciferous and hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed. Their 

 " chief employment during the autumnal season is foraging to sup- 

 " ply their winter stores. In performing this necessary duty they 

 " drop abundance of seed in their flight over fields, hedges, and 

 " by fences, where they alight to deposit them in the post holes, 

 " &c. It is remarkable what numbers of young trees rise up in 

 " fields and pastures after a wet winter and spring. These birds 

 " alone are capable in a few years time, to replant all the cleared 

 "lands.^^^ 



The Blue Jays seldom associate in any considerable numbers, 

 except in the months of September and October, when they hover 

 about in scattered parties of from 40 to 50, visiting the oaks, in 

 search of their favorite acorns. At this season they are less shy 

 than usual ; and keep chattering to each other in a variety of strange 

 and querulous notes. I have counted 53, but never more, at one 

 time ; and these generally following each other in straggling irre- 

 gularity from one range of woods to another. Yet we are told by 

 the learned Dr. Latham, and his statement has been copied into 

 many respectable European publications, that the Blue Jays of 

 North America " often unite into flocks of 20,000 at least ! which 

 " alighting on a field of 10 or 12 acres, soon lay waste the whole."! 

 If this were really so, these birds would justly deserve the charac- 

 ter he gives them, of being the most destructive species in America. 

 But I will venture the assertion, that the tribe Oriolus Phceniceus, 

 or Red-winged Blackbirds, in the environs of the river Delaware 

 alone, devour and destroy more Indian corn than the whole Blue 

 Jays of North America. As to their assembling in such immense 

 multitudes, it may be suflicient to observe, that a flock of Blue 

 J ays of 20,000, would be as extraordinary an appearance in Ame- 



* Letter of Mr. William Bartram to the author. 



t Synopsis of Birds, vol. i, p. 387. See also Encyclopedia Britannica, art. Corvus. 



