The writings of John Burroughs . A lady writing to me from Iowa says: I musttell you what I saw a blue jay do last down to the ground in front of the house,he put something in the dead grass, drawing thegrass over it, first on one side, then on the other,tramped it down just exactly as a squirrel would,then walked around the spot, examining it to seeif it was satisfactory. After he had flown away, Iwent out to see what he had hidden; it was a nicelyshucked peanut that he had laid up for a time ofscarcity. Since then I have myself made similarobservations. I have several times see
The writings of John Burroughs . A lady writing to me from Iowa says: I musttell you what I saw a blue jay do last down to the ground in front of the house,he put something in the dead grass, drawing thegrass over it, first on one side, then on the other,tramped it down just exactly as a squirrel would,then walked around the spot, examining it to seeif it was satisfactory. After he had flown away, Iwent out to see what he had hidden; it was a nicelyshucked peanut that he had laid up for a time ofscarcity. Since then I have myself made similarobservations. I have several times seen jays carryoff chestnuts and hide them here and there uponthe ground. They put only one in a place, andcovered it up with grass or leaves. Instead, there-fore, of hoarding up nuts for future use, wh6n thejay carries them off, he is really planting the snows come these nuts are lost to him,even if he remembered the hundreds of places wherehe had dropped them. May not this fact account56 The Birds Winter Breakfast IBI-H. HARD FARE in a measure for the oak and chestnut trees thatspring up where a pine forest has been cleared fromthe ground ? Probably the crows secrete nuts inthe same way. The acorns at least germinate andremain small, insignificant shoots until the pine iscut away and they have a chance. In almost anypine wood these baby oaks may be seen scatteredhere and there. Jays will carry off and secrete cornin the same way. One winter I put out ears ofcorn near my study window to attract these were not long in finding them out, nor longin stripping the cob of its kernels. They finallycame to the window-sill and picked up the loosekernels I scattered there. At no time did they eatany on the spot, but were solely intent on carryingit away. They would take eight or ten grains ata time, apparently holding it in the throat and carried it away and deposited it in all mannerof places; sometimes on the ground, sometimes indecayed trees. Once I saw a
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