t jay," the shouts and calls and war-cries of the
bird can hardly be numbered, and I have no doubt each has its definite
meaning. More rarely may be heard a clear and musical two-note cry,
sounding like "ke-lo! ke-lo!" This seems to be something special in the
jay language, for not only is it peculiar and quite unlike every other
utterance, but I never saw the bird when he delivered it, and I was long
in tracing it home to him. Aside from the cries of war and victory, jays
have a great variety of notes of distress; they can put more anguish and
despair into their tones than any other living creature of my
acquaintance. Some, indeed, are so moving that the sympathetic hearer is
sure that, at the very least, the mother's offspring are being murdered
before her eyes; and on rushing out, prepared to risk his life in their
defense, he finds, perhaps, that a child has strayed near the tree, or
something equally dreadful has occurred. Jays have no idea of relative
values; they could not make more ado over a heart-breaking calamity than
they do over a slight annoyance. Some of their cries, notably that of
the jay baby, sound like the wail of a human infant. As to one curious
utterance in the jay _repertoire_, I could not quite make up my mind
whether it was a real call to arms, or intended as a joke on the
neighborhood. When a bird, without visible provocation, suddenly burst
out with this loud two-note call, instantly every feathered individual
was on the alert,--sprang to arms, as it were. Blue jays joined in,
robins hurried to the tops of the tallest trees and added their excited
notes, with jerking wings and tail, and at the second or third
repetition the whole party precipitated itself as one bird--upon what?
Nothing that I could discover.

XII.

STORY OF THE NESTLINGS.

While I was studying the manners and customs of the bird in blue, babies
were growing up in the pine-tree nest. Five days after I began to
observe, I saw little heads above the edge. On the sixth day they began,
as mothers say, to "take notice," stirring about in a lively way,
clambering up into sight, and fluttering their draperies over the edge.
Now came busy and hungry times in the jay family; the mother added her
forces, and both parents worked industriously from morning till night.

On the seventh day I was up early, as usual, and, also as usual, my
first act was to admire the view from my window. I fancied it was the
most beautiful in the