64 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
brought up in the family of the latter gentleman, had all 
the tricks and loquacity of a parrot; pilfered every thing 
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 number of words pretty dis- 
tinctly; and when he heard any uncommon noise or loud 
talking, seemed impatient to contribute his share to the 
general festivity, (as he probably thought it,) by a display 
of all the oratorial powers he was possessed of. 
Air. Bartram relates an instance of the Jay’s sagacity, 
worthy of remark. “ Having caught a Jay in the winter 
season,” says he, “ I turned him loose in the green-house, 
and fed him with corn, (zea, maize,) the heart of which 
they are very fond of. This grain being ripe and hard, 
the bird at first found a difficulty in breaking it, as it would 
start from his bill when he struck it. After looking about, 
and as if considering for a moment, he picked up his grain, 
carried and placed it close up in a corner on the shelf, be- 
tween the wall and a plant-box, where being confined on 
three sides, he soon effected his purpose, and continued 
afterwards to make use of this same practical expedient. 
The Jay,” continues this judicious observer, “is one of 
the most useful agents in the economy of nature, for dis- 
seminating forest trees, and other ruciferous and hard- 
seeded vegetables on which they feed. Their chief em- 
ployment 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 num- 
bers, except in the months of September and October, when 
they hover about in scattered parties of from forty to 
fifty, visiting the oaks, in search of their favourite acorns. 
At this season they are less shy than usual, and keep 
chattering to each other in a variety of strange and queru- 
lous notes. I have counted fifty-three, but never more, 
at one time; and these generally following each other in 
straggling irregularity from one range of woods to ano- 
ther. 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 twenty thousand at least! which alight- 
ing on a field of ten or twelve acres, soon lay waste the 
whole.” If this were really so, these birds would justly 
deserve the character 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 sufficient to observe, that a 
flock of Blue Jays of twenty thousand, would be as extraor- 
dinary an appearance in America, as the same number of 
Alagpies or Cuckoos would be in Britain. 
It has been frequently said, that numbers of birds are 
common to the United States and Europe; at present, how- 
ever, I am not certain of many. Comparing the best de- 
scriptions and delineations of the European ones with 
those of our native birds, said to be of the same species, 
either the former are very erroneous, or the difference of 
plumage and habits in the latter, justify us in considering a 
greater proportion of them to be really distinct species. Be 
this, however, as it may, the Blue Jay appears to belong 
exclusively to North America. I cannot find it men- 
tioned by any writer or traveller among the birds of 
Guiana, Brazil, or any other part of South America. It is 
equally unknown in Africa. In Europe, and even in the 
eastern parts of Asia, it is never seen in its wild state. To 
ascertain the exact limits of its native regions would be 
difficult. These, it is highly probable, will be found to 
be bounded by the extremities of the temperate zone. Dr. 
Latham has indeed asserted, that the Blue Jay of America 
is not found farther north than the town of Albany. This, 
however, is a mistake. They are common in the eastern 
states, and are mentioned by Dr. Belknap in his enumera- 
tion of the birds of New-Hampshire. They are also 
natives of Newfoundland. I myself have seen them 
in Upper Canada. Blue Jays and Yellow-birds were 
found by Air. ATKenzie, when on his journey across 
the continent, at the head waters of the Unjigah, or Peace 
River, in N. lat. 54°, W. long. 121°, on the west side of 
the great range of Stony Mountains. Steller, who in 
1741 accompanied captain Behring in his expedition for 
the discovery of the north-west coast of America, and who 
wrote the journal of the voyage, relates, that he himself 
went on shore near Cape St. Elias, in N. lat. 58° 28' W. 
long. 141°46 ', according to his estimation, where he observed 
several species of birds not known in Siberia; and one, in 
particular, described by Catesby under the name of the Blue 
Jay. Mr. William Bartram informs me, that they are nu- 
merous in the peninsula of Florida, and that he also found 
them at Natchez on the Mississippi. Captains Lewis and 
Clark, and their intrepid companions, in their memorable 
expedition across the continent of North America to the Pa- 
cific Ocean, continued to see Blue Jays for six hundred miles 
up the Missouri. From these accounts it follows, that this 
species occupies, generally or partially, an extent of coun- 
try stretching upwards of seventy degrees from east to 
