Sydney Porter—Notes on the Barer Foreign Softbills 185


by various Jays and Pies. These Jay-thrushes had very little to do

with any of the others except to chase them away if they came to the

feeding-pot first. But one day I purchased a pair of Swainson’s

Long-tailed Jays, which, after a time, I placed in the aviary. The

Jay-thrushes seemed spellbound. They followed them about every¬

where and just stared at them in the most amazed way, in fact they

became the Jays’ second shadows. After a time the Jay-thrushes

ventured to touch the other birds, very timidly and gently at first,

like a child touching something it was afraid of. Gradually they

touched the birds all over, occasionally bursting out into the loud,

rollicking laugh which causes these birds to be known as Laughing

Thrushes, and jumping over the Jays’ backs they would stare and

touch them on the other side. At times they sit and look, with head

on one side, with a rapturous look like a lovesick maiden looking at

the photo of her beloved. All day long from morn till night they just

followed the Jays and gazed at them in a state of rapturous ecstasy.

After a time, one of the Jay-thrushes grew rather tired of this and also

not a little jealous of her mate ; if she saw him gazing in the old lovesick

way she would jump in between the two, start to preen his feathers,

and gradually push him away. He then began to realize that his mate

was jealous and disapproved of this strange state of things, so he began

to follow the Jay about surreptitiously. If his mate wasn’t looking

he would gaze in the old lovesick way and perhaps sidle up and gently

preen the feathers of the Jay’s head, but as soon as he saw his mate

had seen what he was doing he would pretend he wasn’t doing anything,

and sometimes make himself smaller and hide behind the jay, but

his wife would find out and immediately come on the scene, get in

between the two, and gradually push her mate away. I have never

seen rapture expressed in a look such as with these birds. What

prompted the Jay-thrushes to behave in this way I cannot say unless

it was the huge crests of the Jays which fascinated them ; I am sure

it was no sexual impulse for the birds always kept a few inches away

and never attempted any familiarities such as feeding the other birds,

etc. ; it just seemed as though the Long-tailed Jays had cast a spell

over the other birds. The Jays seemed to take very little notice of

their attendants, in fact they very seldom resented it. They seemed



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