DROLLERIES OF THE WOODS. 
187 
Oh, fury ! he sees the bushes bend — he hears the bound- 
ing crash — ^too late ! The deer has turned upon its track — 
he heard the alarm. 
Our hunter may be a philosopher, but most likely his ball 
will be sent along with his curse, after the Jay, who, with 
impish clamors, flies off through the echoing woods in scathe- 
less glee. 
This is not, by any means, the only joke our friend man- 
ages to perpetrate upon those whose pursuits carry them into 
the fastnesses of his haunts. The pine-log cutters at the 
North know him well, and bestow upon him many a bless- 
ing from the wrong side of the mouth. The deep snow is 
raked away, and the camp is pitched beneath the gloomy 
shelter of the heavy pines — scarcely has the odor of the first 
roast steamed through the rare air, and freighted every biting 
wind, when, with hungry cries, from every side, the Jays 
come gathering in. But here our particular acquaintance, the 
Blue Jay, with all his blustering and obstreperous vanity, is 
obliged to play second fiddle to his cousin -ger man and mas- 
ter, the Canada Jay, who not only drubs him soundly when 
they meet, but, on occasion, even makes a meal of him. 
They swarm about the camp in hundreds, and, such is their 
audacity when hard pinched with hunger, that they are fre- 
quently seen to dash at the meat roasting before the fire, and 
hot as it is, bear pieces off till they can cool it in the snow. 
They are regarded with singular aversion by these hardy 
men ; for, take what precautions they may, they are often 
robbed to such serious extent by these persevering depreda- 
tors, as to be reduced to suffering. They dare not leave any 
article that can be carried off within their reach. When 
they kill game and leave it hung up until the hunt is over, 
the Jays assemble in hundreds, and frequently tear it in pieces 
before their return. 
The plumage of the Canada Jay is ver}^ curious, and some 
of its notes are the strangest and most peculiar sounds to be 
heard in our forests. The northern hunter, log-drivers and 
