BLUE JAY. 
CoRVUS CR 1 STATUS. Lin. Syst.i. p. 157. No. 8. 
Lf. Geay bleu de Canada. Jhiss. Orn. ii. p. 55. No. 4. 
Blue Jay. Edw. pi. 239. 
Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. z 8 6. 
This very beautiful bird is a native of North America, it is met with at 
Albany, and as far south as Carolina. 
In size it is less than the common Jay, which it very much resembles 
in its actions, and petulance of character ; though its cry is less harsh and 
discordant. The feathers on the crown of the head are long, which it can 
raise at pleasure into a crest larger than the European Jay : its plumage is 
a pleasing intermixture of blue, white, black, and purple, which renders it 
one of the most beautiful birds in this Collection. 
It feeds on fruits and berries, and commonly spoils more than it eats. 
It is particularly fond of the bay-leaved smilax, and of maize. These 
birds, frequently uniting in flocks of twenty thousand at least, soon lay 
waste a field of ten or twelve acres ; on which account they are considered 
the most destructive of the feathered race in that country. 
They build in swamps, along with the red winged Oriole, in the month 
of May: laying five or six eggs, of a dusky olive colour, with ferrugi- 
nous spots. 
