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.