OUR HOME BIRDS. 
285 
tion of enemies to his mate ; hence he can seldom be 
seen or heard near the place. There are five eggs 
of a dull olive hue, spotted with brown. 
“ Here is a little story that displays our handsome 
chatterbox in a more amiable light than usual. The 
WTiter says : ‘ A blue jay which I have kept for some 
time, and with whom I am on terms of familiarity, 
is in reality a very notable example of mildness of 
disposition and sociability of manners. An accident 
in the woods first put me in possession of this bird 
while in full plumage and in high health and spirits. 
I carried him home with me, and put him into a cage 
already occupied by a golden-winged woodpecker, 
where he w T as saluted with such rudeness, and re- 
ceived such a drubbing from the lord of the manor 
for entering his premises, that, to save his life, I was 
obliged to take him out again. 
“ ‘ I then put him into another cage, where the 
only tenant was a female oriole. She also put on 
airs of alarm, as if she considered herself endangered 
and insulted by the intrusion ; the jay, meanwhile, 
sat mute and motionless on the bottom of the cage, 
either dubious of his own situation or willing to allow 
time for the fears of his neighbor to subside. Ac- 
cordingly, in a few minutes, after displaying various 
threatening gestures, she began to make her ap- 
proaches, but with great circumspection and readi- 
