Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-02-22
FEATHERED ROBBERS.
The Jay and the Grow Are Outlaws
Among Birds.


The Jay and the crow have a very
bad reputation-that of robbing 9TH
er birds nests-and 1t Is richly de-
served. Which Is the worse 1t were
hard to say. Probably one is as bad
as the other. But their methods are
different.
The jay reminds one Of the jolly
freebooter Of old. He seems to take
pride in his depravity and to rob
as much for amusement as for plum
der. He Will approach a nest in full
day. The protests Of the owner are
met with jeers of mockery, as 1t
were. II these could be translated
into words the result would be some-
thing like this: "Ha! ha! I like to
hear a poor Insignificant little tit like
threaten the like Of me! You make
me laugh, really. But, what's the
matter with you, anyway? Do you
not see that I am paying you dis
tinguished honor in deigning to Sc
lect your eggs for my breakfast? You
must be very stupid little bird.
Please stop that outcry and leave me
in peace"
Then after hopping from limb to
limb all about the nest and display
ing his gay military trappings to the
full, he will proceed to pounce upon
the eggs or young, as the case may
be. Quite often as much Of these
will be scattered upon the ground as
will be- eaten. His whole manner is
reckless and extravagant. Nor does
he exhibit the least fear or appear
to be in the slightest degree con-
scious that what he Is doing Is wrong.
When his feast is finished he will hop
about again, more gayly and super
ciliously than ever, and finally fly of
with a mocking laugh, while the poor
little victim views the ruins Of her
hopes with despair.
How different from all this Is the
crow and his manner Of procedure!
With the air Of a midnight marauder
he tries industriously to live up to
it. He will only approach a nest In
the dusk Of morning or evening and
his manoeuvres are stealthy and eau
tious in the extreme. After the dis
covery If the nest he will fly off SER
tain distance and takes up a position
of observation. Having satisfied him
self that there are no traps or sur
prises in store he will fly little near
er the nest. Here he will study the
owner, who now has taken alarm and
those whom her cries may summon
to the spot. II there Is nothing to
apprehend in the way Of attack (and
Of course, usually there Is not), the
marauder will make his way right
up to the nest, which in turn he will
study while occasionally casting fur
tive glances about him.
His air at this moment Is full OF
interest. Dark and fierce and rapa-
cious, there Is yet a certain craven
look which seems to betray con-
sciousness of guilt. The whole figure
would do credit to one Of those be-
cloaked providers we read about as
lurking o. nights in the byways OF
old Spain or Italy.
The outcries Of the owner Of the
nest of her mate and perhaps OF
some sympathetic neighbors become
louder and more frantic, but they
produce no effect upon the intruder,
save for the occasional sidelong fur
tive glance, he remaining quite i'm
passive. At length, when everything
has been observed and studied, and
there seems to be no danger immi-
nent, the attack Is made. This is SO
voracious that in a few minutes all
Is over. Then the marauder, after
wiping his bill on branch, will be-
take himself away as silently as he
came. If we follow his numbering
flight with our eyes we will see him
light upon the top Of some tree at a
considerable distance and there give
vent to series Of strident caws,
This, no doubt, Is his way OF ex-
pressing satisfaction over his success
full foray.-Forest and Stream.