This is going to sound crazy, I know, but along about September I began
hearing a Mississippi kite in my neighborhood. This in itself isn't strange,
since here in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi, we always
have a few Mississippi kites in the summer and they regularly nest here. But
I was still hearing the kite in October, and in November, and in December,
and it seemed to be coming from the trees right around my apartment
building, but I never could see the bird. Well, finally, I heard the "phee
whew!" right above me, looked up, and it was a blue jay that even as I
watched made the sound again. It's been making the call all winter, hanging
around my building, and I see it calling all the time. I simply didn't know
jays could mimic so well, or is this one a bit cuckoo?
Jesse Yancy
