_{Wayne Luther, age 9, of Coldbrook, New York, for his question:}

_{Can you tell a male from a female blue Jay?}

_{Mr. and Mrs. Blue Jay are a very outstanding couple in the bird world. They are bold and forceful characters. This is fine, but sometimes their sassy boldness makes them unpopular. Both of them are oh, so handsome and nobody can say which of them is the handsomest.}

_{In the bird world, as a rule, Papa wears the fancy plumage. The Mama bird usually wears soft, drab colors that blend in with the scenery. The gorgeous bird of paradise wears rainbow colors and his long, gauzy tail    well, no glamorous princess ever wore such a train. But the wife of this gorgeous bird prefers to wear soft feathers of blended browns. Mr. Bird of Paradise is too busy being gorgeous to have time for family duties. While he displays his stunning beauty to the admiring world, his gentle wife builds the home and tends the children.}

_{Mrs. Blue Jay has different ideas of family life. The plumage of her elegant hus= band is eye catching blue, more vivid than the top of a sunny, midsummer sky. The blue is underlined with stripes of black and a bib and a weskit of whitest white. The silky feathers on his head tip up in a crest that looks like a sassy crown. And Mrs. Blue Jay wears an outfit just like her husband's. When you see a blue jay bossing the other birds in the garden, you cannot tell whether this character is a male or a female.}

_{Both of the sleek, elegant birds measure about one foot from the tip of their talkative beaks to the tip of their striped tails.: You might expect such bold and beautiful birds to be great singers. Not at all. The couple is not at all inclined to music. Their voices are harsh and loud, more in keeping with their bold, sassy characters. When you hear a raspy voice screaming Jay jay, Jay jay, you cannot tell whether the orders are being shouted by Mr. or Mrs. Blue Jay.}

_{Mr. Bird of Paradise is allowed to neglect his family duties, but Mrs. Blue Jay would not put up with these lazy ideas for a minute. And her handsome husband agrees with her. He is smart enough to know that_fatherly duties are a lot of fun and he is not about to cheat himself by neglecting them. When time comes to raise a family, both parents search among the tall evergreens and the leafy shrubs until they agree on the  right place to build. Both work together to build a nest of twigs and line it with soft, stringy roots and tender grasses.}

_{Mr. Blue Jay, of course, must leave the actual egg laying to his wife. The four or five greenish eggs are daintily freckled with brown. The proud Papa leaves the job of sitting on the precious eggs to his wife but he does not lose interest. Oh, no. His time is spent flying to and fro bringing tempting morsels to feed her. When the waiting period is over, the baby chicks hatch, and both parents share the busy chores of feeding and educating their growing youngsters.}

_{You cannot tell a male from a female blue jay by looking or listening to them. But if you can study their well hidden nest, you might discover which is which. It is Mrs. Blue Jay who sits on the eggs, keeping them warm with the soft, cozy feathers on her breast and wings. For the rest of their lives, the handsome parents act like a pair of identical twins.}