Then the blue jay baby was put into another cage, where were two young catbirds. To these he was very loving. He would sidle up to them and caress them, stroking their backs and wings with his bill. He insisted on sleeping between the two on the perch. He looked very droll with a small bird on each side of him, all snuggled up together.
After a while the blue jay had a whole cage to himself. Then the other cages were moved to the front porch, and he was left alone on the back porch. This did not please him at all; he was lonely. He called and cried and fretted about till he was placed beside the others. Then he gave a cry of joy, and really squealed with delight.
The West is richer than the East in jays. There are several in the Rocky Mountains and California. Steller's Jay is said to represent the Eastern bird I have been telling about. He is different in looks and larger. He is darker blue, with some sooty brown, and he has a fine crest. But he is the same noisy, jolly fellow as his cousin on the Atlantic side of the country.
If your home is in the West, beyond the Mississippi River, of course you know the American Magpie. He is a large, splendid fellow, who looks especially fine when he is flying over your head.
AMERICAN MAGPIE
The magpie is all in black and white: white below and in shoulder patches, and black on the breast and above. In the sunlight he shows purple and blue and green shades over the black. He has a very long tail, which is wide in the middle and runs down almost to a point at the end. This is very showy, when he spreads it wide in flying.
In California the magpie shows a curious variation. On one side of the mountains the magpie has a yellow bill, but the magpie on the other side has a black one, though in every other way they seem to be the same.
The magpie is a social bird. Even in nesting time he likes plenty of neighbors. A party of them will settle in a little grove and build several nests in it. The nests of this bird are the queerest bird homes you ever saw. They look like big covered baskets. They are half the size of a bushel basket, and made of sticks outside. There is an opening on each side for the bird to go in and out. Those I have seen were in the tops of low trees.
The beautiful tail of the magpie seems to be a great care to him. When he flies,—as I said,—he spreads it wide and makes a great show with it. When he is going about on a tree, he jerks and twitches it all the time. No doubt every jerk means something, if we could only understand. When on the ground, he holds the precious tail up carefully, so that it shall not touch the earth. He is a very dignified bird when walking about in this way, looking for the grubs, grasshoppers, crickets, and other creatures on which he feeds. But sometimes he has no dignity at all. He scolds, and screams, and acts like a bad child. He isn't particular about his food. He will eat almost anything, even scraps from a kitchen.