Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-04-20
THE BAR OF JUSTICE
MR.. BLUE JAY Is PUT ON TRIAL
FOR HIS LIFE.
Ali of the Evidence Points to His In
nocence Of the Charges Against
Him and He Is Ac-
quilted.

lew days ago / received letter from
a lady whose tender heart is filled with
indignation because the thoughtless boys
in her neighborhood have declared war
on the blue jays. The boys, if under
stand the case, have no intention of
wrongdoing; on the other hand they
seem to be under the impression that
they are comforting benefit on bird and
man, by Kidding the community of a con-
firmed devOurer of eggs and nestlings
Before denying the Righteousness of
the warfare, it seems fair to ask from
what source comes the information con-
corning the blue jays yillainy Have
these boys actually seen great numbers
of bird homes destroyed that the Jays
might stay their hunger? If they have,
then l beg them to let no word of mine
interrupt their useful work; let them
load their guns to the muzzle and give
no quarter. Otherwise, perhaps it may
be we'll for them to pause and consider
whether they are really waging a
righteous war or whether they are mere
ly killing helpless creatures which they
have condemned to death on hearsay
evidence. There is a law in all civilized
countries to the effect that when a citizen
is charged with an offense, he is en-
titled to fair trial, and that he may not
be punished unless he is actually proven
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A
few years ago the blue jay was brought
to the bar of justice, charged with the
destruction of eggs and nestlings. He
was tried impartially by competent
w n r6 10Th ha
dence for and against as carefully as
though a mans life had been at stake,
and the expenses of the trial were paid by
the United States government The prin-
cipal witnesses in the case were a few
men who testified that they had seen the
blue jay eating eggs and fiedglings, and
W blue jays, all of whom gave their lives
mat they might be present at the trial,
and of whom 2S7 testified positively to
the falseness of the charge. The evidence
for the defendant was so overwhelming
that the jury returned a verdict of mot
guilty" without leaving the court room.
This is, of course, just one way of telling
the story, v Iich is nevertheless a true
one. The United States government in
1896 caused the food of the blue jay to be
made the subject of rigid investigation
An examenation was made of 292 stom.
achs of blue jays collected in every
month of the year. from % states, the
District of Columbia and Canada In
only five of all these stomachs were there
found the remains OF birds or of thf
shells of small birds eggs. Of the three
egg shells found in three of the stomachs
nd five oil
eaten after the young had been Matched
1t might be claimed that the jays otter
eat the contents of eggs without swallow
ing the shells, but by giving eggs to cap
tive jays it has been shown that the bird!
are even more anxious for the shells thar
for the contents.
A great many other facts came out a
this investigation. 1t was shown tina.
more than three-fourths of the blue jay:
food consists of vegetable matter, ant
that of the animal food the greater par
was made up of insects, though there
was small percentage of spiders, myra
pods, snails, fish. salamaders, tree frogs
mice and birds. Most of the insect fooi
consisted of beetles, grasshoppers ant
caterpillarS, and besides these there were
a few bugs, wasps and flies. 1t was fount
that blue jays eat insects every month
of the year, and the proportion of in.
sect food varies from one per cent ir
January to over sc per cent. in August
the average for the year being nearly .:
per cent. Destructive grasshoppers
crickets and locusts begin to form ap
important item in the blue jays bill OF
fare as early as July, amount to nearly
20 per cent. of his food during August
and he continues to eat them in consider.
able numbers until December Amongst
the caterpillars to which the bird gives
his attention may be mentioned those O
the brown-tail and gypsy moths, which
work such havoc in the trees in certain
parts of the country.
The vegetable food of the blue Jay
was found TO consist of mast such a.
acOrns, chestnuts, beechnuts, hazelnuts
and sumac; grain, such as corn, wheat
oats and buckwheat; fruit, such as an
pies, strawberries, huckleberries. wild
cherries, chokecherries, wild grapes and
elderberries, and miscellaneous things
such as oak gals, mushrooms and tubers
On the whole, it was found that the
blue jay was most desirable bird tc
have, either as an ally of the farmer, who
pays but meagre pittance for benefit:
received, or as handsome, jolly neigh
Dor, who is with us the year round. anc
who cheers us With his bright plumaes
and clever mimicry when bird life is a
IS ebb.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES