THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 65

THE NATURALIST.

A True Story About Mr Bine Jay.

I had always heard stories about the disagreeable disposition of the blue jay family, bxit I never liked to believe them — the blue- jays are such handsome birds. Last summer I had an opportunity to watch a pair, and now I think myself that some blue jays a-re not very amiable. The two bright creatures chose a branch ii the great maple by my pantry window on which to build their nest. I soon noticed that whei Mr Blue Jay might just as well have been at work as not, he was so busy telling Mrs Blue Jay that she must "work a leedle, work a leedle, work a loedle," he quite forgot to work himself.

When he did hell he used coarse twigs for the outside because they went so much farther than small ones ; and he was not at all particular about the lining. Instead of hunting for horsehair and bits of wool, he took the dead grass at the foot of the tree because it was less trouble.

But Mrs Blue Jay didn't seem to mind tho rough ' nests or Mr Blue Jay's idle habits. She used to sit there on her eggs and turn her head this way and that, to v/atch him as he flew about. He was such a beautiful fellow, with the handsomest of blue coats and the blackest of satin ties, that she thought he was too handsome to work- and she hoped th© children would be like him.

But one day a dreadful thing happened to (him.

That morning, instead of going to the brook, he flew down to the ice-water drain to get a drink of water, and almost at Oi:c& he saw another bird marching straight toward him. (It was only his reflection in the cellar window, biit Mr Blue Jay did not know that.) With a shrill cry of ra?e he ruffled his feathers, and, hopping toward the window, raised his wings to strike. The other bird did the samo thing. This made him so angry that he bounded into tho air like a ball, and drove his sharp beak against the window. Ho meant to make an end of the saucy fellow ; but there he was, still unharmed.

Mr Blue Jay was =0' ingvy now that he fairly sei-eamcd as he tried it all over, his feet and bill striking against the glass. Mrs Blue Jay heard the noise, and almost stoojl on her eggs, looking down to learn what was the matter. I could see the poor thing flutter. "Jaygee," she called, gently. "I'm so hungry ! Bring me up a bug, won't you, dear:" She did ihis to get him away from the other bird, I suppose.

"Just wait until I finish this rascal !" ho called back.

Ho spent the morning fighting; and by afternoon h& was so tired that lie had to stay on the nsst while Mrs Blue Jay hunted bugs for herself.

The next niorning it was th© same thins over again. Even when tho little birds were hatched Mrs Blue Jay had to ferd herself and tho four hungry children, because each time thnt Mr Blue Jay wont for a drink he would fox-g-efc his famiJy and everything else in fighting the bird in the window.

I used to hear Mr=s Blue Tay pleading, but all in vain. Mr Blue Jay might have gon« on fighting until this very time if one day he had not nearly broken his wing trying to kill the bird in the class. That taught him a lesson. — Little Folks.

Must Ox —Though nearly always spoken of as an ox, tho animal is more properly a horned sheep, of the size of tho small Welsh cattle. It is found in flocks of 20 or 30, though eases of huge drovea are not unknown. Each flock follows the leading bull, or ram, who wins his position by battle. The creature is covered with thick, shag-gy, brown hair, a foot or more In length, which mats itself into s\ sort of hump upon the shoulder. The limbs are short. The body is very heavy and unwieldy. The horns are long and clumsy,

broad at the base, curving downwards by thi face, and then pointing upwards and outwards. When alarmed the flock gathers into a clump, like so many startled sheep. When pursued they scatter to high ground vdth a speed surprising in creatures so clum. sily made. They live on such stunted grass and lichen as they can find in the bitter regions which they haunt. Reindeer moss is their common food, and they have been known to "browse down" young pine shoots. They run very much too fat (perhaps a natural protection from the cold), and their meat is very delicate, but always tainted, more or less, with musk. It is not known how the animal secretes the odour, for no special secretory gland has yet been found in its body. For some curious reason the scent becomes more aggressive as the animal loses its condition, so that a lean specimen is quite uneatable. Small Show Elephants. — It is not often that baby elephants are exhibited in menagories or the ring. The proprietors of the Royal Italian Circus have just purchased a young Burmese one which is certainly the smallest that has been seen in this country for the last half century. Its shoulder height is said to 'be just under 3ft, but this estimate does not err on the side of excess, for it accords with the. skin measurement of the calf dropped by Mr Sanger's elephant in the Zoological Gardens, according to Mr Garrard's taping. This Burmese calf is small for its age, which is about 15 months, and is exceedingly tame and friendly — desirable qualities in a beast that will be trained for the ring. With Signer Volpi it is on the best terms, and will pi-obably soon begin its lessons, if they have not already begun. It knows enough to follow the trainer round the ring, and to expect a reward for so doing. From a zoological point of view this calf is of considerable interest, and will no doubt attract many naturalists, since 1851, when the Zoological Society purchased from Mr Batty an elephant with a six-months-old calf, has so small a specimen been seen in London. Another feature is its hairy coat, quite as thick as that of the Ceylon calf, of which Mr Bonhote exhibited photographs at a meeting of tho Zoological Society in 1903. It was taken from the railway station to the circus iv a cab, which, however, would have accommodated a much larger animal. Alice was under 4ft when she was purchased hy Mr C. Rice in 1865, and it was suggested "that she shoxild be put in a cab and taken to the gardens." Mr A. D. Bartlett, however, decided to walk her through the streets, and this he did successfully, though he was much annoyed by the crowd. Very little was recorded concerning the calf purchased with its dam from Mr Batty, beyond the fact of the "extreme interest created by the possession of so young a specimen of this great pachyderm." and the statement in the council's report (1852) that the two animals cost £800. The former died, it is believed, from fright j at a thunderstorm in July, 1855. From the report for 1859, the last prepared by W. D. Mitchell, it would seem as if the younger elephant, then about eight years old, was the only representative of the genus in the collection. It is there stated that the animal was six months old when he came into the possession of the society, and was the first instance of so young a calf having sui-vived the voyage from India. The process of lactation was continued for many months, and although not actually born in the establishment, the exhibition of this specimen afforded every moans of studying the elephantine infancy in the most satisfactory and i Mercs tins? manner. Unfortunately, though these habits may have been studied, they do not appear to have been recorded. — Field, March 4.