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.
Hab. Whole length of the Sierra Nevada, from Fort Crook (where it approaches var. stelleri) to Fort Tejon.
In the colors of the body, wings, and tail, this well-marked race resembles C. macrolopha in every respect, except that the greater coverts are not barred with black; there being the same abrupt contrast between the deep blue of the wings and tail, and the light greenish-blue of the body, tail-coverts, and primaries,—seen only in these two forms. The variety is confined to the mountains of California and Western Nevada, extending along the Sierra Nevada about the entire length of the State, there being specimens in the collection from Fort Crook and Fort Tejon, and intermediate localities.
Habits. The Blue-fronted Jay, so far as it was observed by Mr. Ridgway, was found to be exclusively an inhabitant of the pine woods of the Sierra Nevada, and is, with Clarke’s Nutcracker, one of the most characteristic birds of that region. In its general habits and manners, it greatly resembles the eastern Blue Jay, but is rather more shy, while its notes are very different, and do not possess the variety and flexibility of the cristata, but are in comparison harsh and discordant. The usual note is a hoarse, deep-toned monosyllabic squawk. Sometimes it utters a hollow sonorous chatter.
Near Carson City one of these birds had been winged by a shot, and, in falling, alighted on the lower branches of a pine-tree. Upon an attempt to capture it, the bird began to ascend the tree limb by limb, at the same time uttering a perfect imitation of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk, evidently in the hope of frightening away his tormentors. Dr. Newberry regards this Jay as the western counterpart of the C. cristata. By its more conspicuous crest, its bold, defiant air, and its excessively harsh and disagreeable cry, it challenges and secures attention. He found it almost exclusively confined to the hilly and mountainous districts, choosing in preference those covered with pines.
Dr. Heermann found these Jays abundant and resident as far south as Warner’s Ranch, where, though common, they were for some reason so unusually wild and vigilant as not to be easily procurable. In feeding, he observed that they seemed always to begin in the lower branches and ascend, hopping from twig to twig, to the topmost point, and, while thus employed, utter a harsh screaming note that can be heard to a considerable distance.
This species, Dr. Cooper states, is numerous in the mountains of California, inhabiting the whole length of the Sierra Nevada, and the Coast Range as far south, at least, as Santa Cruz. Though showing a decided preference for the pine forests, they sometimes in winter frequent those of oaks. They are omnivorous, eating seeds, acorns, nuts, insects, and in winter even potatoes and dead fish. They are at times bold and prying, and at others very cautious and suspicious. They soon learn to appreciate a gun,
and show great sagacity in their movements to avoid its peril. On the Columbia they lay in May, and in California about a month earlier.