Bird Biographies

								


    There is a sort of jerkiness about his love-song, as though his

    throat was unaccustomed to make agreeable sounds. Jays are able to

    produce many strange noises, and appear to enjoy using their power.
Habitat: Woodlands; those containing oaks and other nut-bearing trees

    preferred.
Nest: A rough basket of twigs, with a soft lining of root-fibers.
Range: Eastern North America. A permanent resident of south-central

    Canada and eastern United States, west to the Dakotas, Colorado, and

    central Texas.
This brilliant, handsome blue-coat never "hides his light under a
bushel"; his noisy jay-jay always proclaims his presence. He would at
times be unendurable, except that he never remains long in one place; he
is on the leap constantly, with a dash and an impudent assurance that is
amusing.
He is the "bad boy" of the bird neighborhood, the terror of the small
birds. They seem to have the same fear of him that children have of a
great bully. He swoops down upon them, worries and frightens them, robs
their nests, and brings to his own spoiled fledglings eggs and young as
tidbits.
He is a devoted husband and father, who shows his best traits in his
family circle. He reminds one of certain human beings who take excellent
care of their own, but who are neither good neighbors nor desirable
citizens. Occasionally, however, he has family differences. My sister
tells of watching a jay bring twig after twig for nest-building to his
mate, who was evidently in a bad mood. She would have none of them; she
seized each twig and threw it away with a disagreeable yah, yah. After
repeated attempts, he gave it up and both flew away. My sister never
learned what occurred later.
The jay is an inveterate tease. He delights in annoying poor half-blind
owls in the day-time, by pecking at them from unexpected quarters. An
owl has been known to seize the Tormentor and speedily put an end to his
existence.
The blue jay is a member of the same family to which the crow belongs,
and while totally different in appearance, resembles him in his
cleverness, his fearlessness, and his audacious insolence. Dr. Henshaw,
formerly of the Biological Survey in Washington, brings the following
accusation against this bird:
"The blue jay is of a dual nature. Cautious and silent in the vicinity
of its nest, away from it, it is bold and noisy. Sly in the commission
of mischief, it is ever ready to scream 'thief' at the slightest
disturbance. As usual in such cases, its remarks are applicable to none
more than itself, a fact neighboring nest-holders know to their sorrow,
for during the breeding season the jay lays heavy toll upon the eggs and
young of other birds, and in doing so deprives us of the services of
species more beneficial than itself."[4]
Mr. E. R. Kalmbach, also of the Biological Survey, says that in winter
jays eat the eggs of the tent caterpillar, and the larvæ of the