Chapter XVII: Section IV: Crown rufous; body above, olive-green (8)

According to the more recent observations of Mr. Ridgway, the Maximilian Jay inhabits exclusively the nut-pine and cedar woods on the interior mountain ranges, and is one of the most characteristic birds of those regions. This species he states to be eminently gregarious, even breeding in colonies, and in winter congregating in flocks, sometimes of thousands. Ever restless and in motion, as it moves it is constantly uttering its curious, querulous notes. It is a very conspicuous bird, and is one well worthy of particular attention. Its blue color is the only thing suggestive of its affinity to the Jay. All its habits are different, and its appearance is quite peculiar. It is as essentially migratory as the _Ectopistes migratoria_, its coming and its going being quite as sudden and uncertain. On one occasion, in visiting a nut-pine wood, Mr. Ridgway found it full of roving, noisy troops of these birds, but upon visiting the same locality the next day not one could be seen.

He also states that these birds are exceedingly early in their nesting, as he met with companies of fully fledged young flying about on the 21st of April. Near Carson City, April 20, 1868, he found these birds abundant among the scattered cedars and nut-pines on the lower slopes of the hills. They were in pairs, often three or four pairs in company.

The notes of this bird are both peculiar and curious. The usual ones are said to have some resemblance to the querulous wailings of the Screech Owl; but none, in his opinion, have any resemblance to the cry of the Catbird.

It flies very swiftly, but with a gentle floating motion, very much in the manner of the Robin. In its movements among the small cedars, it generally alighted upon the summit of a tree, and, quietly sitting there, would look about in the manner of the _Picicorvus columbianus_. In flying, it continually uttered a very peculiar querulous note, resembling very much one of the notes of the Magpie,—the peculiarly soft note of that bird uttered during the love-season, or when its nest is approached. In searching among the cedars, Mr. Ridgway found several of its nests. Nearly all had been deserted, and there were several families of fully fledged young flying about. One nest contained four fully feathered young. When these had been taken, and placed in a hat, they all jumped out, squalling vociferously. These nests were all saddled upon horizontal branches of cedars, and, except in their greater bulk, they closely resembled the nest of the eastern Blue Jay.

In autumn and in winter the large flocks of these birds, as they fly back and forth over the hills, present a very peculiar appearance. Their flight is then very swift.

Dr. Kennerly, in November, 1853, frequently saw large flocks of these birds between the Puebla of Laguna and the Sierra Madre, about a hundred miles west of Albuquerque, in New Mexico. They were found chiefly frequenting the watercourses, and when startled would circle around, rising higher above their heads, uttering their singular cries; then suddenly descending they would alight in the top of some tree on the adjoining cliffs. He compares its voice to that of the common Catbird.

Dr. T. C. Henry also repeatedly noticed these birds in the vicinity of Fort Webster, in New Mexico. He first met with them near San Miguel, in July, 1852, where he observed a party of about thirty flitting through the cedars along the roadside. They were chiefly young birds, and were constantly alighting on the ground for the purpose of capturing lizards, which they killed with great readiness, and devoured. After that he repeatedly, in winter, saw these birds near Fort Webster, and usually in flocks of about forty or fifty. They evinced great wariness, and were very difficult of approach.

The flocks would usually alight near the summit of a hill and pass rapidly down its sides, all the birds keeping quite near to each other, and frequently alighting on the ground. They appeared to be very social, and kept up a continual twittering note. This bird, so far as Dr. Henry observed it, is exclusively a mountain species, and never seen on the plains or bottom-lands, and was never observed singly, or even in a single pair, but always in companies.

Dr. Newberry met with this species in the basin of the Des Chutes, in Oregon. He first noticed it in September. Early every morning flocks of from twenty-five to thirty of these birds came across, in their usual straggling flight, chattering as they flew to the trees on a hill near the camp, and then, from tree to tree, they made their way to the stream to drink. He describes their note, when flying or feeding, as a frequently repeated _ca-ca-că_. Sometimes, when made by a straggler separated from mate or flock, it was rather loud and harsh, but was usually soft and agreeable. When disturbed, their cry was harsher. They were very shy, and could only be shot by lying in wait for them. Subsequently he had an opportunity of seeing them feed, and of watching them carefully as they were eating the berries of the cedars, and in their habits and cries they seemed closely to resemble Jays. A specimen, previously killed, was found with its crop filled with the seeds of the yellow pine.

Dr. Cooper has seen specimens of this bird from Washoe, just east of the California State line, and he was informed by Mr. Clarence King that they frequent the junipers on mountains near Mariposa.

From Dr. Coues we learn that this bird is very abundant at Fort Whipple, where it remains all the year. It breeds in the retired portions of the neighboring mountains of San Francisco and Bill Williams, the young leaving the nest in July. As the same birds are ready to fly in April, at Carson City, it may be that they have two broods in Arizona. During the winter they collect in immense flocks, and in one instance Dr. Coues estimates their number at a thousand or more. In a more recent contribution to the Ibis (April, 1872), Dr. Coues gives a more full account of his observations in respect to this bird. In regard to geographical range he considers its distribution very nearly the same with that of the _Picicorvus_. Mr. Aiken has recently met with these birds in Colorado Territory, where, however, Mr. Allen did not obtain specimens. General McCall found these birds abundant near Santa Fé, in New Mexico, at an altitude Of seven thousand feet; and the late Captain Feilner obtained specimens at Fort Crook, in Northeastern California. Dr. Coues considers its range to be the coniferous zone of vegetation within the geographical area bounded eastward by the foot-hills and slopes of the Rocky Mountains; westward by the Cascade and Coast ranges; northward, perhaps to Sitka, but undetermined; and somewhat so southward, not traced so far as the _tierra fria_ of Mexico.

Dr. Coues adds that, like most birds which subsist indifferently on varied animal or vegetable food, this species is not, strictly speaking, migratory, as it can find food in winter anywhere except at its loftiest points of distribution. A descent of a few thousand feet from the mountains thus answers all the purposes of a southward journey performed by other species, so far as food is concerned, while its hardy nature enables it to endure the rigors of winter. According to his observations, this bird feeds principally upon juniper berries and pine seeds, and also upon acorns and other small hard fruits.

Dr. Coues describes this bird as garrulous and vociferous, with curiously modulated chattering notes when at ease, and with extremely loud harsh cries when excited by fear or anger. It is also said to be restless and impetuous, as if of an unbalanced mind. Its attitudes on the ground, to which it frequently descends, are essentially Crow-like, and its gait is an easy walk or run, very different from the leaping manner of progress made by the Jays. When perching, its usual attitude is stiff and firm. Its flight resembles that of the _Picicorvus_. After breeding, these birds unite in immense flocks, but disperse again in pairs when the breeding-season commences.

Nothing, so far, has been published in regard to the character of the eggs.

SUBFAMILY GARRULINÆ.

CHAR. Wings short, rounded; not longer or much shorter than the tail, which is graduated, sometimes excessively so. Wings reaching not much beyond the lower tail-coverts. Bristly feathers at base of bill variable. Bill nearly as long as the head, or shorter. Tarsi longer than the bill or than the middle toe. Outer lateral claws rather shorter than the inner.

The preceding diagnosis may perhaps characterize the garruline birds, as compared with the Crows. The subdivisions of the group are as follows:—

A. Nostrils moderate, completely covered by incumbent
feathers.

_a._ Tail much longer than the wings; first primary
attenuated, falcate.

Pica. Head without crest.

_b._ Tail about as long as the wings; first primary not
falcate.

Cyanura. Head with lengthened narrow crest. Wing and
tail blue, banded with black.

Cyanocitta. Head without crest. Above blue, with a
gray patch on the back. No bands on wing and tail.

Xanthoura. Head without crest. Color above greenish;
the head blue; lateral tail-feathers yellow.

Perisoreus. Head full and bushy. Bill scarcely half the
head, with white feathers over the nostrils. Plumage
dull.

B. Nostrils very large, naked, uncovered by feathers.

Psilorhinus. Head not crested; tail broad; wings two
thirds as long as the tail.

Calocitta. Head with a recurved crest; wings less than
half as long as the tail.

There is a very close relationship between the Jays and the Titmice, the chief difference being in size rather than in any other distinguishing feature. The feathers at the base of the bill, however, in the Jays, are bristly throughout, with lateral branches reaching to the very tip. In _Paridæ_ these feathers are inclined to be broader, with the shaft projecting considerably beyond the basal portion, or the lateral branches are confined to the basal portion, and extended forwards. There is no naked line of separation between the scutellæ on the outer side of the tarsi. The basal joint of the middle toe is united almost or quite to the end to the lateral, instead of half-way. The first primary is usually less than half the second, instead of rather more; the fourth and fifth primaries nearly equal and longest, instead of the fifth being longer than the fourth.

GENUS PICA, CUVIER.

_Coracias_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. 1735 (GRAY).
_Pica_, BRISSON, Ornithologia, 1760, and of Cuvier (AGASSIZ). (Type,
_Corvus pica_, L.)
_Cleptes_, GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, 1847, 47.

GEN. CHAR. Tail very long, forming much more than half the total length; the feathers much graduated; the lateral scarcely more than half the middle. First primary falcate, curved, and attenuated. Bill about as high as broad at the base; the culmen and gonys much curved, and about equal; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to the middle of the bill. Nostrils nearly circular. Tarsi very long; middle toe scarcely more than two thirds the length. A patch of naked skin beneath and behind the eye.

The peculiar characteristic of this genus, in addition to the very long graduated tail, lies in the attenuated, falcate first primary. _Calocitta_, which has an equally long or longer tail, has the first primary as in the Jays generally (besides having the nostrils exposed).

[Line drawing: _Pica hudsonica._
4547]

A specimen of _P. nuttalli_ has the lateral tarsal plates with two or three transverse divisions on the lower third. This has not been observed by us to occur in _P. hudsonica_.

Species and Varieties.

P. caudata. Head, neck, breast, interscapulars, lining of
wing, tail-coverts and tibiæ, deep black: wings metallic
greenish-blue; tail rich metallic green, the feathers
passing through bronze and reddish-violet into
violet-blue, at their tips. Scapulars, abdomen, sides,
flanks, and inner webs of primaries, pure white. Sexes
alike; young similar.

_a._ Bill and bare space around the eye black.

Wing, 7.50; tail, 9.50 or less, its graduation less
than half its length, 4.50; culmen, 1.20; tarsus,
1.75; middle toe, 1.05. _Hab._ Europe var. _caudata_.[55]

Wing, over 8.00 (8.50 maximum); tail over 10.00
(13.50, max., its graduation more than half its
length, 7.70); culmen, 1.55; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe,
1.05. _Hab._ Northern and Middle North America,
exclusive of the Atlantic Province of United States
and California var. _hudsonica_.

_b._ Bill and bare space around the eye yellow.

Wing, 7.50; tail, 10.50; its graduation, 5.00; culmen,
1.50; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.05. _Hab._
California var. _nuttalli_.

[55] _Pica caudata_, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 87. _Corvus pica_,
LINN. Faun. Suec. p. 31. _Pica melanoleuca_, VIEILL. N. D.
XXVI, 121. _Pica albiventris_, VIEILL. Faun. Franc. p. 119,
t. 55, f. 1. _Pica european_ (CUV.) BOIE, Isis, 1822, 551.
_Pica rusticorum_, LEACH, Syst. Cat. Mamm. and Birds in
Brit. Mus. p. 18.

Pica caudata, var. hudsonica, BONAP.

MAGPIE.

_Corvus pica_, FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXXII, 1772, 382.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. IV, 1811, 75, pl. xxxv.—BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, No.
40.—IB. Syn. 1828, 57.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 219.—AUD. Orn.
Biog. IV, 1838, 408, pl. ccclvii (not of LINNÆUS). _Corvus
hudsonica_, JOS. SABINE, App. Narr. Franklin’s Journey, 1823,
25, 671. _Picus hudsonica_, BONAP. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus,
1850, 383.—MAXIM. Reise Nord Amer. I, 1839, 508.—IB. Cabanis,
Journ. 1856, 197.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R.
R. VI, IV, 1857, 84.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 576, pl.
xxv.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 121 (British Columbia).—COOPER
& SUCKLEY, 213, pl. xxv.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I,
1869, 286 (Alaska).—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 39
(Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 296. _Cleptes
hudsonicus_, GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, Dec. 1847, 47.
_Pica melanoleuca_, “VIEILL.” AUD. Syn. 1839, 157.—IB. Birds
Am. IV, 1842, 99, pl. ccxxvii.

SP. CHAR. Bill and naked skin behind the eye black. General color black. The belly, scapulars, and inner webs of the primaries white; hind part of back grayish; exposed portion of the tail-feathers glossy green, tinged with purple and violet near the end; wings glossed with green; the secondaries and tertials with blue; throat-feathers spotted with white in younger specimens. Length, 19.00; wing, 8.50; tail, 13.00. Young in color and appearance similar generally to the adult.

HAB. The northern regions of North America. The middle and western Provinces of the United States exclusive of California; Wisconsin, Michigan, and Northern Illinois, in winter.

The American Magpie is almost exactly similar to the European, and differs only in larger size and disproportionably longer tail. According to Maximilian and other authors, the iris of the American bird has a grayish-blue outer ring, wanting in the European bird, and the voice is quite different. It is, however, difficult to consider the two birds otherwise than as geographical races of one primitive stock.

HABITS. The American Magpie has an extended western distribution from Arizona on the south to Alaska on the northwest. It has been met with as far to the east as the Missouri River, and is found from there to the Pacific. It is abundant at Sitka; it was observed at Ounga, one of the Shumagin Islands, and was obtained by Bischoff at Kodiak.

Richardson observed these birds on the Saskatchewan, where a few remain even in winter, but are much more frequent in summer.

Mr. Lord, the naturalist of the British branch of the Northwest Boundary Survey, characterizes our Magpie as murderous, because of its cruel persecution of galled and suffering mules, its picking out the eyes of living animals, and its destruction of birds. These birds caused so much trouble to the party, in winter, at Colville, as to become utterly unbearable, and a large number were destroyed by strychnine. They were then so tame and impudent that he repeatedly gave them food from his hand without their showing any evidence of fear. He says they nest in March.

Dr. Suckley states that this Magpie is abundant throughout the central region of Oregon and Washington Territory. He first met with it a hundred miles west of Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone. It became more abundant as the mountains were approached, and so continued almost as far west as the Cascade Mountains, where the dense forests were an effectual barrier. On Puget Sound he saw none until August, after which, during the fall, it was tolerably abundant. It breeds throughout the interior. He obtained a young bird, nearly fledged, about May 5, at Fort Dalles. At this place a few birds remain throughout the winter, but a majority retire farther south during the cold weather. One of its cries, he says, resembles a peculiar call of Steller’s Jay.

Mr. Ridgway regards this Magpie as one of the most characteristic and conspicuous birds of the interior region, distinguished both for the elegance of its form and the beauty of its plumage. While not at all rare in the fertile mountain cañons, the principal resort of this species is the rich bottom-land of the rivers. The usual note of the Magpie is a frequently uttered chatter, very peculiar, and, when once heard, easily recognized. During the nesting-season it utters a softer and more musical and plaintive note, sounding something like _kay´-e-ehk-kay-e_. It generally flies about in small flocks, and, like others of its family, is very fond of tormenting owls. In the winter, in company with the Ravens, it resorts to the slaughter-houses to feed on offal. The young differ but little in plumage from the adult, the metallic colors being even a little more vivid; the white spotting of the throat is characteristic of the immature bird.

The nests were found by Mr. Ridgway in various situations. Some were in cedars, some in willows, and others in low shrubs. In every instance the nest was domed, the inner and real nest being enclosed in an immense thorny covering, which far exceeded it in bulk. In the side of this thorny protection is a winding passage leading into the nest, possibly designed to conceal the very long tail of the bird, which, if exposed to view, would endanger its safety.

Dr. Cooper first met this bird east of the Cascade Mountains, near the Yakima, and from there in his journey northward as far as the 49th degree it was common, as well as in all the open unwooded regions until the mountains were passed on his return westward.

Dr. Kennerly met with these birds on the Little Colorado in New Mexico, in December. He found them in great numbers soon after leaving the Rio Grande, and from time to time on the march to California. They seemed to live indifferently in the deep cañons among the hills or in the valleys, but were only found near water.

Dr. Newberry first met with these birds on the banks of one of the tributaries of the Des Chutes, one hundred miles south of the Columbia, afterwards on the Columbia, but nowhere in large numbers. He regards them as much less gregarious in their habits than _Pica nuttalli_, as all the birds he noticed were solitary or in pairs, while the Yellow-bills were often seen in flocks of several hundreds.

All accounts of this bird agree in representing it as frequently a great source of annoyance to parties of exploration, especially in its attacks upon horses worn down and galled by fatigue and privations. In the memorable narrative of Colonel Pike’s journey in New Mexico, these birds, rendered bold and voracious by want, are described as assembling around that miserable party in great numbers, picking the sore backs of their perishing horses, and snatching at all the food they could reach. The party of Lewis and Clark, who were the first to add this bird to our fauna, also describe them as familiar and voracious, penetrating into their tents, snatching the meat even from their dishes, and frequently, when the hunters were engaged in dressing their game, seizing the meat suspended within a foot or two of their heads.

Mr. Nuttall, in his tour across the continent, found these birds so familiar and greedy as to be easily taken, as they approached the encampment for food, by the Indian boys, who kept them prisoners. They soon became reconciled to their confinement, and were continually hopping around and tugging and struggling for any offal thrown to them.

Observers have reported this bird from different parts of Arizona and New Mexico; but Dr. Coues writes me that he never saw it at Fort Whipple, or elsewhere in the first-named Territory. He found it breeding, however, in the Raton Mountains, in June, under the following circumstances, recorded at the time in his journal.

“Yesterday, the 8th, we were rolling over smooth prairie,
ascending a little the while, but so gradually that only the
change in the flora indicated the difference in elevation. The
flowery verdure was passed, scrubby junipers came thicker and
faster, and pine-clad mountain-tops took shape before us. We made
the pass to-day, rounding along a picturesque ravine, and the
noon halt gave me a chance to see something of the birds. Troops
of beautiful Swallows were on wing, and as their backs turned in
their wayward flight, the violet-green colors betrayed the
species. A colony of them were breeding on the face of a cliff,
apparently like _H. lunifrons_, but the nests were not
accessible. Whilst I was watching their movements, a harsh scream
attracted my attention, and the next moment a beautiful Magpie
flew swiftly past with quivering wings, and with a flirt of the
glittering tail and a curious evolution dashed into a dense
thicket close by. In the hope of seeing him again, and perhaps of
finding his nest, I hurried to the spot where he had disappeared,
and pushed into the underbrush. In a few moments I stood in a
little open space, surrounded on all sides and covered above with
a network of vines interlacing the twigs and foliage so closely
that the sun’s rays hardly struggled through. A pretty shady
bower! and there, sure enough, was the nest, not likely to be
overlooked, for it was as big as a bushel basket,—a globular
mass, hung in the top of one of the taller saplings, about twelve
feet from the ground. The mother bird was at home, and my
bustling approach alarmed her; she flew out of the nest with loud
cries of distress, which brought the male to her side in an
instant. As I scrambled up the slender trunk, which swayed with
my weight, both birds kept flying about my head with redoubled
outcry, alighting for an instant, then dashing past again so
close that I thought they would peck at me. As I had no means of
preserving the nest, I would not take it down, and contented
myself with such observations as I could make whilst bestriding a
limb altogether too slender for comfort. It was nearly spherical
in shape, seemed to be about eighteen inches in diameter, arched
over, with a small hole on one side. The walls, composed entirely
of interlaced twigs bristling outwardly in every direction, were
extremely thick, the space inside being much less than one would
expect, and seemingly hardly enough to accommodate the bird’s
long tail, which I suppose must be held upright. The nest was
lined with a little coarse dried grass, and contained six young
ones nearly ready to fly. Authors state that the American Magpie
lays only two eggs; but I suppose that this particular pair lived
too far from scientific centres to find out what was expected of
them. Other birds, noticed to-day, were Steller’s Jays among the
pines and cedars, a flock of _Chrysomitris_, apparently _pinus_,
feeding on willow-buds along the rivulet that threaded the gorge,
and some Robins.”

The eggs of this Magpie are somewhat larger than any I have seen of _P. nuttalli_, and are differently marked and colored. Six specimens from the Sierra Nevada exhibit the following measurements: 1.40 × 0.98, 1.22 × 1.00, 1.41 × 0.95, 1.28 × 0.95, 1.26 × 0.92, 1.32 × 0.96. Their ground-color is a grayish-white, or light gray with a yellowish tinge, spotted with blotches, dottings, and dashes of a purplish or violet brown. In some they are sparsely distributed, showing plainly the ground, more confluent at the larger end. In others they are finer, more generally and more thickly distributed. In others they are much larger and of deeper color, and cover the whole of the larger end with one large cloud of confluent markings. None of these closely resembles the eggs of _P. nuttalli_. The usual number of eggs in a nest, according to Mr. Ridgway, varies from six to nine, although it is said that ten are sometimes found.

Pica caudata, var. nuttalli, AUD.

YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE.

_Pica nuttalli_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 450, pl. ccclxii.—IB.
Syn. 1839, 152.—IB. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 104, pl.
ccxxviii.—BON. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850,
383.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 236.—NEWBERRY, Rep. P.
R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 84.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 578, pl.
xxvi.—HEERM. X, _S_, 54.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 295.
_Cleptes nuttalli_, GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I,
1847, 46.

SP. CHAR. Bill, and naked skin behind the eye, bright yellow; otherwise similar to _P. hudsonica_. Length, 17.00; wing, 8.00; tail. 10.00.

HAB. California (Sacramento Valley, and southern coast region).

We cannot look upon the Yellow-billed Magpie otherwise than as a local race of the common kind, since it is well known that among the Jays many species have the bill either black or yellow according to sex, age, or locality; and as the Yellow-billed Magpie occupies a more southern locality than usual, and one very different from that of the black-billed species, it well may exhibit a special geographical variation. The great restriction in range is another argument in favor of its being a simple variety.

HABITS. The Yellow-billed Magpie seems to be exclusively a bird of California, where it is very abundant, and where it replaces almost entirely the more eastern form. Mr. Ridgway, who met with this variety only in the valley of the Sacramento, states that he there found it very abundant among the oaks of that region. It differed from the common Magpie in being exceedingly gregarious, moving about among the oak groves in small companies, incessantly chattering as it flew, or as it sat among the branches of the trees. He saw many of their nests in the tops of the oaks,—indeed, all were so situated,—yet he never met with the nests of the other species in a high tree, not even in the river valleys. The young of this Magpie have the white of the scapulars marked with rusty triangular spots.

Dr. Cooper found this Magpie abundant in the valleys of California, especially near the middle of the State, except during the spring months, when none were seen in the Santa Clara Valley, the supposition being that they had retired eastward to the mountains to build their nests. At Santa Barbara he found them numerous in April and May, and saw their nests in oak-trees. The young were already fledged by the 25th of April. The nest, he states, is composed of a large mass of coarse twigs twisted together in a spherical form, with a hole in the side. The eggs he saw resembled those of the other species, and are described as being whitish-green, spotted with cinereous-gray and olive-brown. They also breed abundantly about Monterey. They have not been traced to the northern border of the State.

Their food, Dr. Cooper adds, consists of almost everything animal and vegetable that they can find, and they come about farms and gardens to pick up whatever they can meet with. They have a loud call that sounds like _pait-pait_, with a variety of chattering notes, in tone resembling the human voice, which, indeed, they can be taught to imitate.

An egg of this species from Monterey, California, is of a rounded oval shape, a little less obtuse at one end than the other. The ground-color is a light drab, so closely marked with fine cloudings of an obscure lavender color as nearly to conceal the ground, and to give the egg the appearance of an almost uniform violet-brown. It measures 1.20 inches in length by .90 in breadth.

GENUS CYANURA, SWAINSON.

_Cyanurus_, SWAINSON, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 495, Appendix. (Type,
_Corvus cristatus_, LINN.)
_Cyanocitta_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851 (not of STRICKLAND, 1845).

GEN. CHAR. Head crested. Wings and tail blue, with transverse black bars; head and back of the same color. Bill rather slender, somewhat broader than high at the base; culmen about equal to the head. Nostrils large, nearly circular, concealed by bristles. Tail about as long as the wings, lengthened, graduated. Hind claw large, longer than its digit.

[Line drawing: _Cyanura cristata._
1423]

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Wings and tail deep blue, the latter, with the secondaries and tertials, sometimes also the greater coverts, barred with black.

A. Greater coverts, tertials, secondaries, and
tail-feathers tipped broadly with white; lower parts
generally, including lateral and under parts of head,
whitish.

C. cristata. Head above, back, scapulars, lesser
wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts, light ashy
purplish-blue; a narrow frontal band, a loral spot,
streak behind the eye, and collar round the neck,
commencing under the crest, passing down across the end
of the auriculars and expanding into a crescent across
the jugulum, black; throat tinged with purplish-gray,
the breast and sides with smoky-gray; abdomen, anal
region, and crissum pure white. Wing, 5.70; tail, 6.00;
bill, 1.25; tarsus, 1.35; middle toe, .85; crest, 2.20.
_Hab._ Eastern Province of North America.

B. No white on wing or tail; lower parts deep blue.

C. stelleri. Color deep blue, less intense than on wings
and tail, except dorsal region, which may be deep blue,
ashy-brown, or sooty-black. Head and neck dark
grayish-brown, dusky-blue, or deep black, the throat
more grayish.

_a._ No white patch over the eye; throat and chin not
abruptly lighter than adjacent parts; secondary
coverts not barred with black.

Whole head, neck, jugulum, and dorsal region plain
sooty-black; no blue streaks on forehead, or else
these only faintly indicated. The blue everywhere of
a uniform dull greenish-indigo shade. Depth of bill,
.45; crest, 2.60; wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; culmen,
1.35; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.00. _Hab._
Northwest coast, from Sitka to the Columbia var. _stelleri_.

Whole head, neck, jugulum, and dorsal region
plumbeous-umber; the forehead conspicuously streaked
with blue, and the crest washed with the same. The
blue of two very different shades, the wings and
tail being deep indigo, the body and tail-coverts
greenish cobalt-blue. Depth of bill, .35; crest,
2.80; wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.25; tarsus,
1.55; middle toe, .90. _Hab._ Sierra Nevada, from
Fort Crook to Fort Tejon var. _frontalis_.

_b._ A patch of silky white over the eye; throat and
chin abruptly lighter than the adjoining parts;
secondary coverts barred distinctly with black.

Whole crest, cheeks, and foreneck deep black; the
crest scarcely tinged with blue; dorsal region light
ashy-plumbeous; forehead conspicuously streaked with
milk-white. The blue contrasted as in var.
_frontalis_. Depth of bill, .35; crest, 3.00; wing,
6.10; tail, 6.10; culmen, 1.25; tarsus, 1.65; middle
toe, .90. _Hab._ Rocky Mountains of United States
var. _macrolopha_.

Whole crest, cheeks, and foreneck deep black, the
crest strongly tinged with blue; dorsal region
greenish plumbeous-blue. The blue nearly uniform;
forehead conspicuously streaked with bluish-white.
Depth of bill, .35; crest, 2.80; wing, 5.90; tail,
5.90; culmen, 1.30; tarsus, 1.60; middle toe, .90.
_Hab._ Highlands of Mexico var. _diademata_.[56]

Whole crest, cheeks, and foreneck deep blue, lores
black; dorsal region deep purplish-blue; forehead
conspicuously streaked with light blue. The blue of
a uniform shade—deep purplish-indigo—throughout.
Depth of bill, .40; length of crest, 2.50; wing,
5.80; tail, 5.80; culmen, 1.30; tarsus, 1.60; middle
toe, .95. _Hab._ Southeastern Mexico (Xalapa,
Belize, etc.) var. _coronata_.[57]

The different varieties just indicated under _Cyanura stelleri_, namely, _stelleri_, _frontalis_, _macrolopha_, _diademata_, and _coronata_, all appear to represent well-marked and easily defined races of one primitive species, the gradation from one form to the other being very regular, and agreeing with the general variation attendant upon geographical distribution. Thus, beginning with _C. stelleri_, we have the anterior part of head and body, including interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. In _frontalis_ the back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. In _macrolopha_ the blue of posterior parts invades the anterior, tingeing them very decidedly, leaving the head black, with a blue shade to the crest; the forehead is glossed with bluish-white; the upper eyelids have a white spot. In _coronata_ the blue tinge is deeper, and pervades the entire body, except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different from _macrolopha_, and more like that of _stelleri_; _diademata_, intermediate in habitat between _macrolopha_ and _coronata_, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed from _stelleri_ to _coronata_. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same progression.

[56] _Cyanura diademata_ (BONAP.), _Cyanogarrulus
diadematus_, BONAP. Consp. p. 377. _Cyanocitta diad._,
SCLATER, Catal. Am. B. 1862, 143. The _C. galeata_, CAB.,
from Bogota, we have not seen.

[57] _Cyanura coronata_, SWAINS. Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 437.

Cyanura cristata, SWAINSON.

BLUE JAY.

_Corvus cristatus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, (10th ed.,) 1758, 106; (12th
ed.,) 1766, 157.—GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 369.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. I, 1808, 2, pl. i, f. 1.—BON. Obs. Wilson, 1824, No.
41.—DOUGHTY, Cab. N. H. II, 1832, 62, pl. vi.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
II, 1834, 11; V, 1839, 475, pl. cii. _Garrulus cristatus_,
“VIEILLOT, Encyclop. 890.”—IB. Dict. XI, 477.—BON. Syn. 1828,
58.—SW. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 293.—VIEILLOT, Galerie, I,
1824, 160, pl. cii.—AUD. Birds Am. IV, 110, pl. ccxxxi.—MAX.
Caban. J. 1858, VI, 192. _Pica cristata_, WAGLER, Syst. Av.
1827, _Pica_, No. 8. _Cyanurus cristatus_, SWAINSON, F.
Bor.-Am. II, 1831, App. 495.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
580.—SAMUELS, 364.—ALLEN, B. E. Fla. 297. _Cyanocorax
cristatus_, BON. List, 1838. _Cyanocitta cristata_, STRICKLAND,
Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, 261.—CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 221.
_Cyanogarrulus cristatus_, BON. Consp. 1850, 376.

SP. CHAR. Crest about one third longer than the bill. Tail much graduated. General color above light purplish-blue; wings and tail-feathers ultramarine-blue; the secondaries and tertials, the greater wing-coverts, and the exposed surface of the tail, sharply banded with black and broadly tipped with white, except on the central tail-feathers. Beneath white; tinged with purplish-blue on the throat, and with bluish-brown on the sides. A black crescent on the forepart of the breast, the horns passing forward and connecting with a half-collar on the back of the neck. A narrow frontal line and loral region black; feathers on the base of the bill blue, like the crown. Female rather duller in color, and a little smaller. Length, 12.25; wing, 5.65; tail, 5.75.

HAB. Eastern North America, west to the Missouri. Northeastern Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 494). North to Red River and Moose Factory.

Specimens from north of the United States are larger than more southern ones. A series of specimens from Florida, brought by Mr. Boardman, are quite peculiar in some respects, and probably represent a local race resident there. In these Florida specimens the wing and tail are each an inch or more shorter than in Pennsylvania examples, while the bill is not any smaller. The crest is very short; the white spaces on secondaries and tail-feathers more restricted.

HABITS. The common Blue Jay of North America is found throughout the continent, from the Atlantic coast to the Missouri Valley, and from Florida and Texas to the fur regions nearly or quite to the 56th parallel. It was found breeding near Lake Winnepeg by Donald Gunn. It was also observed in these regions by Sir John Richardson. It was met with by Captain Blakiston on the forks of the Saskatchewan, but not farther west.

The entire family to which this Jay belongs, and of which it is a very conspicuous member, is nearly cosmopolitan as to distribution, and is distinguished by the remarkable intelligence of all its members. Its habits are striking, peculiar, and full of interest, often evincing sagacity, forethought, and intelligence strongly akin to reason. These traits belong not exclusively to any one species or generic subdivision, but are common to the whole family.

When first met with in the wild and unexplored regions of our country, the Jay appears shy and suspicious of the intruder, man. Yet, curious to a remarkable degree, he follows the stranger, watches all his movements, hovers with great pertinacity about his steps, ever keeping at a respectful distance, even before he has been taught to beware of the deadly gun. Afterwards, as he becomes better acquainted with man, the Jay conforms his own conduct to the treatment he receives. Where he is hunted in wanton sport, because of brilliant plumage, or persecuted because of unjust prejudices and a bad reputation not deserved, he is shy and wary, shuns, as much as possible, human society, and, when the hunter intrudes into his retreat, seems to delight to follow and annoy him, and to give the alarm to all dwellers of the woods that their foe is approaching.

In parts of the country, as in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and other Western States, where the Jay is unmolested and exempt from persecution, we find him as familiar and confiding as any of the favored birds of the Eastern States. In the groves of Iowa Mr. Allen found our Blue Jay nearly as unsuspicious as a Black-capped Titmouse. In Illinois he speaks of them as very abundant and half domestic. And again, in Indiana, in one of the principal streets of Richmond, the same gentleman found the nest of these birds in a lilac-bush, under the window of a dwelling. In the summer of 1843 I saw a nest of the Jay, filled with young, in a tree standing near the house of Mr. Audubon, in the city of New York. The habits of no two species can well be more unlike than are those which persecution on the one hand and kind treatment on the other have developed in this bird.

The Blue Jay, wherever found, is more or less resident. This is especially the case in the more southern portions of its area of reproduction. In Texas, Dr. Lincecum informs us, this Jay remains both summer and winter. It is there said to build its nest of mud, a material rarely if ever used in more northern localities; and when placed not far from dwelling-houses, it is lined with cotton thread, rags of calico, and the like. They are, he writes, very intelligent and sensible birds, subsisting on insects, acorns, etc. He has occasionally known them to destroy bats. In Texas they seem to seek the protection of man, and to nest near dwellings as a means of safety against Hawks. They nest but once a year, and lay but four eggs. In a female dissected by him, he detected one hundred and twelve ova, and from these data he infers that the natural life of a Jay is about thirty years.

Mr. Allen mentions finding the Blue Jay in Kansas equally at home, and as vivacious and even more gayly colored than at the North. While it seemed to have forgotten none of the droll notes and fantastic ways always to be expected from it, there was added to its manners that familiarity which characterizes it in the more newly settled portions of the country, occasionally surprising one with some new expression of feeling or sentiment, or some unexpected eccentricity in its varied notes, perhaps developed by the more southern surroundings.

The Blue Jay is arboreal in its habits. It prefers the shelter and security of thick covers to more open ground. It is omnivorous, eating either animal or vegetable food, though with an apparent preference for the former, feeding upon insects, their eggs and larvæ, and worms, wherever procurable. It also lays up large stores of acorns and beech mast for food in winter, when insects cannot be procured in sufficient abundance. Even at this season it hunts for and devours in large quantities the eggs of the destructive tent caterpillar.

The Jay is charged with a propensity to destroy the eggs and young of the smaller birds, and has even been accused of killing full-grown birds. I am not able to verify these charges, but they seem to be too generally conceded to be disputed. These are the only serious grounds of complaint that can be brought against it, and are more than outweighed, tenfold, by the immense services it renders to man in the destruction of his enemies. Its depredations on the garden or the farm are too trivial to be mentioned.

The Blue Jay is conspicuous as a musician. He exhibits a variety in his notes, and occasionally a beauty and a harmony in his song, for which few give him due credit. Wilson compares his position among our singing birds to that of the trumpeter in the band. His notes he varies to an almost infinite extent, at one time screaming with all his might, at another warbling with all the softness of tone and moderation of the Bluebird, and again imparting to his voice a grating harshness that is indescribable.

The power of mimicry possessed by the Jay, though different from, is hardly surpassed by that of the Mocking-Bird. It especially delights to imitate the cries of the Sparrow Hawk, and at other times those of the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks are given with such similarity that the small birds fly to a covert, and the inmates of the poultry-yard are in the greatest alarm. Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, on whose grounds a large colony of Jays took up their abode and became very familiar, has given me a very interesting account of their habits. The following is an extract: “They soon became so familiar as to feed about our yards and corn-cribs. At the dawn of every pleasant day throughout the year, the nesting-season excepted, a stranger in my house might well suppose that all the axles in the country were screeching aloud for lubrication, hearing the harsh and discordant utterances of these birds. During the day the poultry might be frequently seen running into their hiding-places, and the gobbler with his upturned eye searching the heavens for the enemy, all excited and alarmed by the mimic utterances of the adapt ventriloquists, the Jays, simulating the cries of the Red-shouldered and the Red-tailed Hawks. The domestic circle of the barn-yard evidently never gained any insight into the deception by experience; for, though the trick was repeated every few hours, the excitement would always be re-enacted.”

When reared from the nest, these birds become very tame, and are perfectly reconciled to confinement. They very soon grow into amusing pets, learning to imitate the human voice, and to simulate almost every sound that they hear. Wilson gives an account of one that had been brought up in a family of a gentleman in South Carolina that displayed great intelligence, and had all the loquacity of a parrot. This bird could utter several words with great distinctness, and, whenever called, would immediately answer to its name with great sociability.

The late Dr. Esteep, of Canton, Ohio, an experienced bird-fancier, assured Dr. Kirtland that he has invariably found the Blue Jay more ingenious, cunning, and teachable than any other species of bird he has ever attempted to instruct.

Dr. Kirtland has also informed me of the almost invaluable services rendered to the farmers in his neighborhood, by the Blue Jays, in the destruction of caterpillars. When he first settled on his farm, he found every apple and wild-cherry tree in the vicinity extensively disfigured and denuded of its leaves by the larvæ of the _Clisiocampa americana_, or the tent caterpillar. The evil was so extensive that even the best farmers despaired of counteracting it. Not long after the Jays colonized upon his place he found they were feeding their young quite extensively with these larvæ, and so thoroughly that two or three years afterwards not a worm was to be seen in that neighborhood; and more recently he has searched for it in vain, in order to rear cabinet specimens of the moth.

The Jay builds a strong coarse nest in the branch of some forest or orchard tree, or even in a low bush. It is formed of twigs rudely but strongly interwoven, and is lined with dark fibrous roots. The eggs are usually five, and rarely six in number.

The eggs of this species are usually of a rounded-oval shape, obtuse, and of very equal size at either end. Their ground-color is a brownish-olive, varying in depth, and occasionally an olive-drab. They are sparingly spotted with darker olive-brown. In size they vary from 1.05 to 1.20 inches in length, and in breadth from .82 to .88 of an inch. Their average size is about 1.15 by .86 of an inch.

Cyanura stelleri, SWAINSON.

STELLER’S JAY.

_Corvus stelleri_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 370.—LATH. Ind. Orn.
I, 1790, 158.—PALLAS, Zoog. Rosso-As. I, 1811, 393.—BONAP.
Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 49.—IB. Suppl. Syn. 1828, 433.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 453, pl. ccclxii. _Garrulus stelleri_,
VIEILLOT, Dict. XII, 1817, 481.—BONAP. Am. Orn. II, 1828, 44,
pl. xiii.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 229.—AUD. Syn. 1839,
154.—IB. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 107, pl. ccxxx (not of SWAINSON,
F. Bor.-Am.?). _Cyanurus stelleri_, SWAINSON, F. Bor.-Am. II,
1831, 495, App. _Pica stelleri_, WAGLER, Syst. Av. 1827,
_Pica_, No. 10. _Cyanocorax stelleri_, BON. List, 1838. FINSCH,
Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 40 (Alaska). _Cyanocitta stelleri_, CAB.
Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 85.
_Cyanogarrulus stelleri_, BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, 377.
_Steller’s Crow_, PENNANT, Arctic Zoöl. II, Sp. 139. LATH. Syn.
I, 387. _Cyanura s._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 581 (in part).
LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 122 (British Columbia; nest).—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 486 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 1870, 298 (in part).

SP. CHAR. Crest about one third longer than the bill. Fifth quill longest; second about equal to the secondary quills. Tail graduated; lateral feathers about .70 of an inch shortest. Head and neck all round, and forepart of breast, dark brownish-black. Back and lesser wing-coverts blackish-brown, the scapulars glossed with blue. Under parts, rump, tail-coverts, and wings greenish-blue; exposed surfaces of lesser quills dark indigo-blue; tertials and ends of tail-feathers rather obsoletely banded with black. Feathers of the forehead streaked with greenish-blue. Length, about 13.00; wing, 5.85; tail, 5.85; tarsus, 1.75 (1,921).

HAB. Pacific coast of North America, from the Columbia River to Sitka; east to St. Mary’s Mission, Rocky Mountains.

HABITS. Dr. Suckley regarded Steller’s Jay as probably the most abundant bird of its size in all the wooded country between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. He describes it as tame, loquacious, and possessed of the most impudent curiosity. It is a hardy, tough bird, and a constant winter resident of Washington Territory. It is remarkable for its varied cries and notes, and seems to have one for every emotion or pursuit in which it is engaged. It also has a great fondness for imitating the notes of other birds. Dr. Suckley states that frequently when pleasantly excited by the hope of obtaining a rare bird, in consequence of hearing an unknown note issuing from some clump of bushes or thicket, he has been not a little disappointed by finding that it had issued from this Jay. It mimics accurately the principal cry of the Catbird.

Dr. Cooper also found it very common in all the forests on both sides of the Cascade Mountains. While it seemed to depend chiefly upon the forest for its food, in the winter it would make visits to the vicinity of houses, and steal anything eatable it could find within its reach, even potatoes. In these forages upon the gardens and farm-yards, they are both silent and watchful, evidently conscious of the peril of their undertaking, and when discovered they instantly fly off to the concealment of the forests. They also make visits to the Indian lodges when the owners are absent, and force their way into them if possible, one of their number keeping watch. In the forest they do not appear to be shy or timid, but boldly follow those who intrude upon their domain, screaming, and calling their companions around them. Hazel-nuts are one of their great articles of winter food; and Dr. Cooper states that, in order to break the shell, the Jay resorts to the ingenious expedient of taking them to a branch of a tree, fixing them in a crotch or cavity, and hammering them with its bill until it can reach the meat within. Their nest he describes as large, loosely built of sticks, and placed in a bush or low tree.

At certain seasons of the year its food consisted almost entirely of the seeds of the pine, particularly of _P. brachyptera_, which Dr. Newberry states he has often seen them extracting from the cones, and with which the stomachs of those he killed were usually filled. He found these birds ranging as far north as the line of the British Territory, and from the coast to the Rocky Mountains.

In his Western journey Mr. Nuttall met with these birds in the Blue Mountains of the Oregon, east of Walla-walla. There he found them scarce and shy. Afterwards he found them abundant in the pine forests of the Columbia, where their loud trumpeting clangor was heard at all hours of the day, calling out with a loud voice, _djay-djay_, or chattering with a variety of other notes, some of them similar to those of the common Blue Jay. They are more bold and familiar than our Jay. Watchful as a dog, no sooner does a stranger show himself in their vicinity than they neglect all other employment to come round him, following and sometimes scolding at him with great pertinacity and signs of irritability. At other times, stimulated by curiosity, they follow for a while in perfect silence, until something seems to arouse their ire, and then their vociferous cries are poured out with unceasing volubility till the intruder has passed from their view.

In the month of May, Mr. Nuttall found a nest of these birds in a small sapling of the Douglas fir, on the borders of a dense forest, and, some time after, a second nest with young, in an elevated branch of another fir, on the border of a rocky cliff. The first nest contained four eggs, of a pale green, marked with small olive-brown spots, varied with others inclining to a violet hue. The parents flew at him with the utmost anger and agitation, almost deafening him with their cries; and although he took only two of their eggs, the next day he found they had forsaken their nest. This nest was bulky, made of interlaced twigs and roots, with a stout layer of mud, and lined with black rootlets. One of the eggs taken by Mr. Nuttall is in my cabinet, and is as he describes it, except that the obscure markings of violet have nearly faded out. It measures 1.20 inches in length, and .90 in breadth, is oval in shape, and a little more obtuse at one end than at the other.

This Jay was obtained by Steller at Nootka, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in latitude 50°. It was also found in abundance by Mr. Dall at Sitka, in British Columbia, where a number of specimens were obtained by Mr. Bischoff and by Mr. Elliot.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that this Jay ever makes its presence known by the constant utterance of discordant screams. It is continually hopping from bough to bough, darting down to catch an insect, performing short, erratic flights, and jerking up and down its crest of bright feathers. Its noisy song seems to be everywhere. It is the embodiment of restlessness, and, by dint of sheer impudence, attracts attention even from the hunter. He adds that it seemed fond of frequenting the haunts of man, and is always plentiful near Indian lodges or white men’s shanties. It is by no means epicurean in taste, but readily devours anything, whether seeds or salmon, grasshoppers or venison. Its nest he found artfully concealed amidst the thick foliage of a young pine-tree. It was composed of moss, small twigs, lichens, and fir fronds, and lined with deer’s hair. The average number of eggs laid appears to be seven.

Cyanura stelleri, var. frontalis, RIDGWAY.

SIERRA JAY.

_Cyanura stelleri_, AUCT. All reference to Steller’s Jay as
occurring in California, excepting on the northern Coast Range,
relate to this variety.

SP. CHAR. Head, neck, and dorsal region plumbeous-umber, darker on the head, and posteriorly changing gradually into the light greenish-blue of the rest of the body; wings and tail deep indigo-blue, the tertials, secondaries, and tail conspicuously marked with broad and rather distant bars of black; primaries greenish light-blue, like the rump, abdomen, etc. Whole forehead conspicuously streaked with blue (the streaks forming two parallel series, where the feathers are not disarranged), and the crest strongly tinged with blue. ♂ (53,639, Carson City, Nevada, April 30, 1868): wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.25; depth of bill, .35; tarsus, 1.55; middle toe, .90; crest, 2.80. ♀ (53,640, Carson City, Nevada, April 30, 1868): wing, 5.70; tail, 5.50. _Young_ with the blue of the body and head entirely replaced by a sooty grayish; and that of the wings and tail duller, and less distinctly barred.