In the spring, before it leaves us, you will often hear its
pretty little song. They are very much afraid of hawks, which make havoc
among them at all times, but are fearless of their human--and especially
of their humane--neighbors. Severe weather will often bring them to our
very doors, and drive them into the outskirts of large cities. They are
not only harmless, but very useful, for they devour innumerable seeds,
and small insects with their larvae. Dear me! I could talk about birds
all night."
"And we could listen to you," chorused several voices.
"I never before realized that we had such interesting winter neighbors
and visitors," said Mrs. Clifford, and the lustre of her eyes and the
faint bloom on her cheeks proved how deeply these little children of
nature had enlisted her sympathies.
"They are interesting, even when in one short evening I can give but in
bald, brief outline a few of their characteristics. Your words suggest
the true way of becoming acquainted with them. Regard them as neighbors
and guests, in the main very useful friends, and then you will naturally
wish to know more about them. In most instances they are quite susceptible
to kindness, and are ready to be intimate with us. That handsome bird, the
blue jay, so wild at the East, is as tame and domestic as the robin in many
parts of the West, because treated well. He is also a winter resident, and
one of the most intelligent birds in existence.
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