The American Crow
Length from eighteen to twenty inches.
Glossy black from the tip of its beak to the end of its toes.
A Citizen of North America from the Fur Countries to Mexico.
A dismal and noisy neighbor for three mouths in the year, making itself hateful by destroying grain, and the eggs and young of song birds; but for the other nine a good citizen, working in the guilds of Ground Gleaners and Wise Watchers.
THE BLUE JAY
"This Jay is accused of the same bad tricks as the Crow—pulling up sprouting corn, eating ripe corn, and going birds'-nesting, to suck the eggs and eat the helpless young. But we must not judge the whole tribe by what we have seen a pair or two do in the Orchard or home woods in the mating season.
"The Blue Jay is the third of our really familiar blue birds and is certainly very handsome. Do you remember who the other two are?"
"The Bluebird!" said Dodo quickly. "And the Blue Sparrow!" cried Nat.
"You mean the Indigo Bird," laughed Rap. "The Blue Jay is a queer bird, who can twist himself into all sorts of shapes. He sits one way when he sings, another when he is watching out for danger, and when he calls he is too funny for anything—he humps himself up and drops his tail as if he was falling apart, and then squawks!"