another “thump” which must have sounded like a saith to 
a him from the rush he made to get away. The joke on each 
other was understood, for, after a chat in the treetops, they 
: returned several times wut both tables were empty; which 
they, too, evidently had been, or hollow, for while the bulk 
of what they had swallowed seemed to equal the weight, Ot 
the two birds their size remained the same. 
As we became better acquainted, they showed they had S 
quite different dispositions. The first visitor, which could 
be easily told by his ragged, worn tail feathers, as well as 
by his bold ways, soon showed a wish:to know what was © 
going on in the room behind the windows. He would stand 
among the scraps and flatten his crest and body-feathers, 
twisting his head from one side to another as he peered 
through the glass trying to see all the dark corners. Quiet | 
movements, unless close to him, did not disturb him nor did 
conversation in which he seemed interested. 
He was very greedy, seldom satisfied with small bits of © 
a food, but would often pick out the biggest pieces, which he 
would take to the tree and hold under his foot to pull apart. — 
Sometimes he gobbled everything in sight into his mouth, | 
until the food made a fringe about the,edges, while his 
swollen throat caused the watcher to tremble for his breath 
ing power. His companion never gulped her food and seldom 
carried any away from the table, aay seeming to remem- 
‘ber her good manners. | 
To watch a jay eating a piece of nee fastened to atree, _ 
so that it can not be jerked up and carried away, is as 00d. | 
as a game. The food must be placed where he can get a 
foothold; and when, in his morning saunter about his route, 
he finds the treasure, the fun will begin. He will look it 
over, try it here and there and then, getting interested, will 
attack it with fury, throwing up his head and driving it 
- down again and again with hammerlike blows until his bill 
gets caught in the fat. Often he will twist and pry with | 
such energy that he will lose his footing when a bit of food 
1138 
