. The birds about us . ties. By no meansepicurean in tastes, they readily devour anything,—seeds, salmon,grasshoppers, or venison. The nest, artfully concealed amidst thethick foliage of a young pine-tree, is composed of moss, small twigs,lichen, and fir-fronds, and lined with deer hair. The habits of all these jays differ in one respectfrom those of the common jay of the Middle States,for the latter show no fancy for human weather may tempt them to a corn-crib,and they will steal very cautiously to where pigshave been slaughtered, but the familiarity so markedin other spec
. The birds about us . ties. By no meansepicurean in tastes, they readily devour anything,—seeds, salmon,grasshoppers, or venison. The nest, artfully concealed amidst thethick foliage of a young pine-tree, is composed of moss, small twigs,lichen, and fir-fronds, and lined with deer hair. The habits of all these jays differ in one respectfrom those of the common jay of the Middle States,for the latter show no fancy for human weather may tempt them to a corn-crib,and they will steal very cautiously to where pigshave been slaughtered, but the familiarity so markedin other species I have never known to be exhibitedby the blue jay of the Atlantic seaboard States. The Raven, that has figured for many centuries inliterature and folk-lore, and is looked upon with sus- 124 The Birds About Us. picion by all people other than naturalists, is anabundant bird in the West, and quite rare in the At-lantic seaboard States, except in scattered localitiesimmediately on the coast and among the Raven. Some years ago a family of seven ravens had theirhome in a magnificent cedar and holly forest on theJersey coast. Wandering aimlessly about,—it was inJune,—I came upon them suddenly, and their strangecries were thoroughly weird and unbirdlike. Ithought then how readily they might be consideredas words of any spoken language; and later, thatsame day, as I was watching the storm-clouds gath-ering over the ocean, from out them came these sameravens, calling aloud as they approached and utteringcries as they passed over my head and made for theirhome in the woods. It is not strange that supersti-tion has invested them with wickedness, and laid attheir door the blame for many a misfortune. The Western White-necked Raven does not differessentially in its habits. The Perching Birds. 125 It would seem entirely unnecessary to refer to theCrow. Everybody knows the bird at sight and sup-poses he knows the details of its mind, body, andestate, but here everybody
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1895
