This he did by flying furiously around the
room, feathers rustling, and squawking as loud as
he could. He usually managed to fly just over the
head of each bird, and as he came like a catapult,
every one flew before him, so that in a minute the
room was full of birds flying madly about, trying
to get out of his way. This gave him great
pleasure.
Once a grasshopper got into the Bird Room,
probably brought in clinging to some one's dress
in the way grasshoppers do. Jakie was in his cage,
but he noticed the stranger instantly, and I
opened the door for him. He went at once to look
at the grasshopper, and when it hopped he was so
startled that he hopped too. Then he picked the
insect up, but he did not know what to do with it,
so he dropped it again. Again the grasshopper
jumped directly up, and again the jay did the
same. This they did over and over, till every one
was tired laughing at them. It looked as if they
were trying to see who could jump the highest.
There was another bird in the room, however,
who knew what grasshoppers were good for. He
was an orchard oriole, and after looking on awhile,
he came down and carried off the hopper to eat.
The jay did not like to lose his plaything; he ran
after the thief, and stood on the floor giving low
cries and looking on while the oriole on a chair
was eating the dead grasshopper.
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