. A Book of ornithology, for youth. Embracing descriptions of the most interesting and remarkable birds in all countries, with particular notices of American birds . shed among the feathered tenants of our woods bythe brilliancy of his dress. He is very loquacious andcoxcombical, and quite odd in his tones and gestures. Heis eleven inches in length, and his head is ornamentedwith a crest of light biue or purple feathers which he canelevate and depress at pleasure. The whole upper partsghi blue or purple, with a collar of black passingdown each side of the neck, and forming a crescent on theupp
. A Book of ornithology, for youth. Embracing descriptions of the most interesting and remarkable birds in all countries, with particular notices of American birds . shed among the feathered tenants of our woods bythe brilliancy of his dress. He is very loquacious andcoxcombical, and quite odd in his tones and gestures. Heis eleven inches in length, and his head is ornamentedwith a crest of light biue or purple feathers which he canelevate and depress at pleasure. The whole upper partsghi blue or purple, with a collar of black passingdown each side of the neck, and forming a crescent on theupper part of the breast. The under parts are (aril is long and light blue, tipped with black. The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the . frequenting the thickest settlements as well as tie deepest recesses of the forest^ where his squalling voice often alarms the deer, to the great mortification and disap- THE BLUB JAY. 153 pointraent of the hunter. His notes bear some resem-blance to the tones of the trumpet, though he has thefaculty of changing them through a great variety of modu-lations. When disposed for ridicule, there is scarcely a. bird whose peculiarities he cannot imitate, When en-gaged in making love, his notes resemble the soft chat-terings of a duck, and at a few paces distance are almostinaudible; but on being disturbed, he sets up a suddenand vehement outcry, flying off and screaming with all hismight. When he hops untroubled among the highbranches of the oak and hickory, they become soft and 154 THE BLUE JAT. musical: and his calls of the female would readily be mis-taken by a stranger for the screakings of an ungreasedwheel-barrow. All these notes he accompanies with va-rious peculiar nods, jerks and gesticulations. The nest of this bird is built frequently in the cedar,sometimes on an apple tree, and is lined with dry fibrousroots. The eggs are five in number, of a dull olive, spot-ted with brown. The male makes his visits as secretlyas po
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookidbookoforni, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1832
