views life from a more serious stand- 
point, her domestic duties, it would 
seem, weighing heavily upon her mind. 
We speak of the "thieving" instinct of 
this bird, as well as of the blue jay, and 
other kindred species, because of that 
mischievous spirit which leads them to 
seize any small bright article which 
comes in their way, and, when unob- 
served, to secrete it. That they never 
purloin or hide these objects when ob- 
served is thought to be proof conclu- 
sive that it is done from the pure love 
of stealing and nothing else. 
"I hide and you seek." In that child- 
ish game does not the one who is to 
secrete the article insist that the 
"finder" close his eyes till the object 
sought is carefully hidden? What 
amusement would be afforded the jay, 
or the mockingbird, should he attempt 
to secrete an article while you are look- 
ing? If we could only interpret the 
sparkle in their bead-like eyes, as we 
can that in a child's when engaged in 
the same game, how much mischief we 
would read there as the owner of these 
secreted articles hunts "high and low" 
for them in presence of the fun-loving 
birds! 
"Where did you hide it, Jay?" 
pleaded a lady, who had left her silver 
thimble upon a table, and after a few 
minutes' absence returned to find it 
gone. "There has been nobody in the 
room since I left, so you must have 
taken it." 
Mr. Jay, the pet of the household, 
hopped into his cage, and, standing 
upon his perch, looked demurely at 
the questioner. 
"You are a naughty bird," said his 
mistress, who had in remembrance 
finger- rings, watch-keys, collar-buttons, 
and similar articles, which, from time 
to time, had as mysteriously disap- 
peared, "and I am going to shut you 
in," which she did, fastening the in- 
secure door of his prison with a stout 
piece of string. 
Jay gave a shrill shriek, as of laugh- 
ter, when his mistress continued the 
search, turning up the edge of the car- 
pet, searching the pockets of garments 
hanging on the wall, anywhere, every- 
where, that articles, one-time missing, 
had been secreted. But look where 
she would the thimble could not be 
found. 
A month went by, and still Jay re- 
mained an unwilling, if not a subdued, 
prisoner. As his mistress one morning 
sat sewing in the room, Jay gave a final 
peck at the string which confined him, 
and at once, without a word, hopped 
to a chair from which one rung was 
missing. His mistress was watching 
him, and to her intense amusement saw 
him very deftly extract from the hole 
in the leg her lost thimble. 
In the same household came, as 
visitor, a little boy named Johnny, of a 
very peevish and fretful disposition. 
When refused anything he especially 
desired, the whole house was made to 
resound with shrieks of: "Ma, ma, 
ma-a-a-a!" 
Jay listened very attentively at first, 
but in a few days had not only caught 
the words but the very intonation. 
Johnny never entered the room with- 
out the bird crying in a peevish tone, 
in a very ecstacy of mischief: "Ma, 
ma, ma-a-a!" 
"I hate that bird," said the boy one 
day, when Jay had greeted him with 
an unusually whining cry: "He ought 
to be killed. He makes me nervous." 
"Then I would stop whining if I were 
you," suggested his mother, and Johnny 
wisely concluded he would. 
A mockingbird which frequented the 
grounds of a gentleman in Virginia 
was noted not only as a most mis- 
chievous fellow, but as one of the most 
divine songsters of his tribe. So 
heavenly was his music, and so superior 
to that of his fellows, that at eventide 
in the general chorus his voice soared 
above all the rest. Men, women, and 
children gathered — for his fame had 
traveled far and near — to hear him 
sing, but in the very midst of his divine 
strains, Jip — for so they named him — 
would suddenly cease, and flying away, 
conceal himself behind a chimney on 
the housetop. Presently he would 
sneak down to the eaves and peer cau- 
tiously over, to see if his self-invited 
audience had scattered. If they were 
still there he would again hide himself, 
returning shortly to peer over the 
eaves again. As soon as the back of 
his last auditor was visible down he 
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