Evening star., 1944-06-20
This and That
Bu Charles E. Trdce1UeU.
ROCKVILLE, Md.

Dear Sir:
Il want to ask question about birds
and you will probably realize that I
don't know much about them. But
there's a feud going on here which
sometimes twice day.
"Mocking birds have nest in cedar
tree D).
Blue jay hangs out in trees near
creek (A).
Blue jay suddenly flies from A to tree
B, where he Is met and attacked by
one or both Knockers.
"He then flies to tree G, still under
attack.
Then Knockers take station on roof
top near tree C, and scold and fuss.
"Soon blue jay flies back to his own
bailiwick hotly pursued by one or both
mockingbirds.
rs the jay traditional enemy of
the mockingbird? Is he really threat
ening their young?
Sincerely, yours,
CAPT R. S. F., U. S. NJ"
The blue jay is evidently considered
He no sooner approaches a nest, than
he is driven away.
Mockingbirds in particular, being bel
ligerent birds in their own right, will
not tolerate Jay near their nests.
Jays, in their turn, will drive every
thing away from their own nests.
The jay has bad reputation, some
of it deserved. some of it given by the
@lI AN yit,t Ch ifoc yryitto
some other birds egg in it's claws.
This picture of the dripping egg has
done more to hurt the reputation of
this staunch American, we feel sure,
than all its own habits We believe
that the truth, in respect to blue jays is
simply this. that some Of them are really
bad, while some of them mind their own
business very well.
In other words, all Jays are not nest
robbers, any more than all cats are If
you were to listen to the propaganda Of
some cat haters, you would imagine that
every house cat catches at least six
birdS a day.
The truth is that only one cat out Of
dozen is really bad bird catcher After
many years of observation we are will
ing to go on record that the great bulk
birds a season.
Every neighborhoOd, however, will
have at least one specimen which is
really bad bird catcher and he will give
all his fellow cats very bad reputation
in the eyes Of persons who are not will
ing or who do not have the time to make
real investigation of the matter.
Most birds AT nesting time are semi
ferocious in defense of nest and young.
A far worst enemy of nestllngs than
the blue jay is the grackle, the large
black sleek bird with the long tail and
yellow eye
He is a bad one, almost every member
of his tribe is, he will not hesitate to
tear off the legs and heads of young
birds, for no other reason than just the
sheer fun of it.
The cardinal family will be as untir-
ing in driving away birds around the
nest as any Jay or mocker. The jay. in
his turn, becomes a ferocious aSSailant
of humans, dogs and cats near his nest
Our personal belief is that not all
! jays are determined on getting eggs
from nests, but are prompted by-What
shall we Say--a human curiosity to see
what Is going on.
They are perhaps the most curious of
all the bird tribes. which is not to be
wondered at, since they are among the
most intelligent Curiosity is a part of
the scientific state of mind which has
given us so many wonderful and ter
rible inventions. If the birds of the
air were suddenly, AS in fantastic
story, to grow up, mentally, blue jays
they no doubt would be cool, gray-eyed
scientists, bent on finding out why, and
not caring much what happened when
they did.