190 
BLUE JAY- 
cents of black, and tipt with white; the interior sides of the 
wing feathers are dusky black; tail long and cuneiform, com- 
posed of twelve feathers of a glossy light blue, marked at half 
inches with transverse curves of black, each feather being tipt 
with white, except the two middle ones, which deepen into a 
dark purple at the extremities. Breast and sides under the wings 
a dirty white, faintly stained with purple; inside of the mouth, 
the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black; iris of the eye hazel. 
The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods, 
frequenting the thickest settlements, as well as the deepest re- 
cesses of the forest, where his squalling voice often alarms the 
deer, to the disappointment and mortification of the hunter; one 
of whom informed me, that he made it a point, in summer, to 
kill every Jay he could meet with. In the charming season of 
spring, when every thicket pours forth harmony, the part per- 
formed by the Jay always catches the ear. He appears to be, 
among his fellow-musicians what the trumpeter is in a band, 
some of his notes having no distant resemblance to the tones of 
that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing through 
a great variety of modulations, according to the particular hu- 
mour he happens to be in. When disposed for ridicule, there is 
scarce a bird whose peculiarities of song he cannot tune his notes 
to. When engaged in the blandishments of love, they resemble 
the soft chatterings of a duck; and while he nestles among the 
thick branches of the cedar, are scarce heard at a few paces dis- 
tance; but no sooner does he discover your approach, than he 
sets up a sudden and vehement outcry, flying off, and screaming 
with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered tribes of 
the neighbourhood to witness some outrageous usage he had re- 
ceived. When he hops undisturbed among the high branches of 
the oak and hickory, they become soft and musical; and bis calls 
of the female, a stranger would readily mistake for the repeated 
creakings of an ungreased wheelbarrow. All these he accompa- 
nies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which 
the whole tribe of Jays ai’e so remarkable, that, with some other 
peculiarities, they might have very well justified the great Swe- 
