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HABITS OF THE AMERICAN BLUE JAY . 
buffet the unfortunate hawk with such relentless perseverance that they fairly drive him out 
of the neighborhood ; but sometimes the tables are reversed, and the hawk, turning suddenly 
on his persecutors, snaps up the foremost and boldest, and silently sails away into the thickest 
covert, bearing his screaming prey in his talons. 
As the Blue J ay is very fond of fruit and seeds, it often does great harm to the agricult- 
urist, robbing his fruit-trees in a very complete and systematic manner, and doing no small 
amount of harm to the crops. Yet the bird is not without its use, for in replenishing its 
winter stores, which consist of nuts, mast, chestnuts, and similar provisions, the Jay drops 
many of them in its passage, and thus unconsciously succeeds in planting many a useful tree. 
One careful observer of this 
bird and its habits says that 
in a few years’ time the Jays 
alone would replant all the 
cleared lands. 
The diet of the Jay is, how- 
ever, by no means restricted to 
vegetable substances, as the 
bird lives more upon animal 
than on vegetable food. In 
the spring and early summer, 
young birds form a large por- 
tion of its sustenance, and it 
robs many a nest of its eggs, or 
even when pressed by hunger 
makes an attack on the parent 
bird. 
In captivity with its Euro- 
pean relative, the Blue Jay is 
equally mischievous, being at- 
tracted by anything that glit- 
ters or tli at he thinks is valued 
by its owner, and hiding it in 
some of his especial treasure- 
houses. He will also learn to 
talk, and becomes very proud 
of his accomplishment, dis- 
playing his newly - acquired 
talents to every one who will 
listen, and being extremely 
loquacious when excited by the presence of several persons at the same time. If kindly 
treated, the Blue Jay becomes very affectionate to its owner, and can even be taught to 
live in loving commrmion with creatures whom it would in a wild state immediately devour. 
One of these birds, kept for some time by Wilson, was on terms of intimate friendship with one 
of the Baltimore orioles, and would permit her to take all kinds of liberties, such as pulling its 
whiskers, jumping into the water and splashing it whenever it desired to drink. 
The nest of the Blue Jay is large, and rather clumsily made, and is placed in a lofty 
branch of some tall tree, the cedar being in principal request for this office. It is lined with 
fine fibrous roots, and contains four or five eggs of a dull olive, spotted with brown. The male 
bird is very cautious in his approaches to the nest, always gliding secretly and silently to the 
spot where his mate and young have made their home, carrying with him the results of 
his foraging expedition. 
Much more might be said of this bird, but its character has been so well described by 
Webber in a few graphic passages, that I should do it injustice, were not his account to be 
presented in his own words 
AMERICAN BLUE JAY —Gyanocitta cristata. 
