Blue and Bluish 
It sounds as if they were perpetually quarrelling, and yet they are 
really particularly devoted. 
The nest of these birds, like the bank swallow’s, is excavated 
in the face of a high bank, preferably one that rises from a stream ; 
and at about six feet from the entrance of the tunnel six or eight 
clear, shining white eggs are placed on a curious nest. All the fish- 
bones and scales that, being indigestible, are disgorged in pellets 
by the parents, are carefully carried to the end of the tunnel to form 
a prickly cradle for the unhappy fledglings. Very rarely a nest is 
made in the hollow trunk of a tree; but wherever the home is, 
the kingfishers become strongly attached to it, returning again 
and again to the spot that has cost them so much labor to exca- 
vate. Some observers have accused them of appropriating the 
holes of the water-rats. 
In ancient times of myths and fables, kingfishers or halcyons 
were said to build a floating nest on the sea, and to possess some 
mysterious power that calmed the troubled waves while the eggs 
were hatching and the young birds were being reared, hence the 
term “halcyon days,” meaning days of fair weather. 
Blue Jay 
(Cyanocitta cristata ) Crow and Jay family 
Length — 1 1 to 12 inches. A little larger than the robin. 
Male and Female — Blue above. Black band around the neck, join- 
ing some black feathers on the back. Under parts dusky 
white. Wing coverts and tail bright blue, striped trans- 
versely with black. Tail much rounded. Many feathers 
edged and tipped with white. Head finely crested ; bill, 
tongue, and legs black. 
Range — Eastern coast of North America to the plains, and from 
northern Canada to Florida and eastern Texas. 
Migrations — Permanent resident. Although seen in flocks mov- 
ing southward or northward, they are merely seeking hap- 
pier hunting grounds, not migrating. 
No bird of finer color or presence sojourns with us the year 
round than the blue jay. In a peculiar sense his is a case of 
“beauty covering a multitude of sins.” Among close students 
of bird traits, we find none so poor as to do him reverence. Dis- 
honest, cruel, inquisitive, murderous, voracious, villainous, are 
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