Canada Jay 
157 
and shrubs, gathered for the most part in Na- 
ture’s open store-room, not in man’s, are what 
the jay chiefly delights in ; and these he hides 
away, squirrel-fashion, to provide for the rainy 
day. More than half of all his food in summer 
consists of insects, so you see he is then quite 
as useful as his cousin, the crow. 
Jays are fearful teasers. How they love 
to chase about some poor, blinking, bewildered 
owl, in the daylight! Jay-jay-jay, you may 
hear them scream through the woods. They 
mimic the hawk’s cry for no better reason, 
perhaps, than that they may laugh at the panic 
into which timid little birds are thrown at the 
terrifying sound. A pet jay I knew could whistle 
up the stupid house-dog, who was fooled again 
and again. This same jay used to carry all 
its beech nuts to a piazza roof, wedge them 
between the shingles, and open them there 
with ease. An interesting array of hair pins, 
matches, buttons, a thimble and a silver spoon 
were raked out of his favourite cache under 
the eaves. 
CANADA JAY 
Called also: Whiskey Jack; Moose-bird; Meat-bird 
Anyone who has camped in the northern 
United States and over the Canadian border 
knows that the crow and blue jay have a rogue for 
