Evening star., 1944-11-27
This and That
By Charles E. Trace,pell.
ROCKVILLE, MD,


Dear Sir:
Every time I see. q blue jay think
of you. because you have stuck up for
this bird so much. and I am sure you
are right; for 1t Is one of the finest
birds we have, according to my way Of
thinking.
1--WE have about six of them come
to the yard every morning, and they
carry away food. Do they hide 1t some
where, and do they ever find 1t If they
do? I put out some whole peanuts
and they took them all away, their
mouths crammed with them. How many
can they carry at time?
They kept going away and coming
back. 1t was beautiful sight. am
glad that am able to appreciate these
birds. I know people who call them
all sorts Of names, robber, thief and
murderer, so that is all they think Of
when, they see them, but according to
my way of thinking that is absurd.
have watched them a great deal, and
have never seen them rob any other
bird, or steal anything from them, and
murder any bird.
Il am glad I am able to appreciate
this beautiful bird. thanks to your
teaching.
Maybe If people can be taught to
like birds, in time they may be taught
to like each other, and there will be
no more wars.
Sincerely, M. J. L."
The blue jay Is one of the most pic
tureSque of our songbirds.
1t is called songbird because Of the
number and structure OF its vocal
organs.
Actually, it cannot sing very well, al
though it can and does make q variety
OF peculiar noises.
One Of the best reasons for having q
feeding station close to a window is In.
order to watch-and hear-these blue
jay noises. One resembles the sound
of wooden rattle, or clacker Of the
type which may be heard in festive
crowds. Another is a squawk Of tri-
umph and still another is q soft noise,
sort of cooling of which any species
might be proud
In fact, the jay makes so many diff
ferent sounds. in his exuberance. that
it is not safe to suspect any other species
OF them until the observer is sure that
The starting, too; makes many Pc
culiar sounds, including fine whistle
which many listeners fail to credit to
him.
Our blue jay is peculiarly American
sort of bird, "big noise from Winetka"
sort of bird which is always on the 60,
especially when it comes to the mouth
Like most noisy creatures. his sound
is worse than his bite. We suppose
that any one who is looking for ill
deeds from this bird manages to see
them, but as we have often said we,
personally. have never seen a Jay do
ANYTHING evil.
If one is able to find fun in the bird,
there will be no more interesting species.
The jay is with us the year around,
probably just little more so in fall,
winter and spring than in summer.
In the hot months they are busy
with their children. In the fall the
mother and father bird and the young
ones form into bands and tour the
countryside.
II food is put out for birds, these
jay bands will be regular visitors. They
usually come early in the morning, Just
at first light, and stay not more than
Is or 20 minutes.
The regularity Of these visits Is amaz-
ing The birds are so active, and 50
bold in their ideas, evidently, that they
cannot remain IN one place very long.
This, too, is typically American.
In fact, from the very look of the
jay, which is strictly Indian according
to the best tradition, to the bold free
cries and the wondering, Gypsy like
preclivities, this bird occupies place
all of its own in the native bird lists.
Instead of being berated, as it so often
Is, it should receive special mark Of
appreciation as true American, one
very close to the type of which we may
be proudest, since it represents not only
our own idea of ourselves, but also
comes closest to the best foreign opinion
Of ~ ~ . peopl9.
a