NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 263 



above described, and measure I.25X.83, i.i3x.85, I.23X.83, i.i4x.8o, 

 i.i6x.84. The other nest at this time did not nor several weeks after 

 contain eggs.* 



483. Xanthoura luxuosa (LESS.) [296.] 



Green. Jay. 



Hab. Eastern Mexico, north to the Rio Grande valley in Texas. 



Dr. Merrill states that the Rio Grande Jay is a common resi- 

 dent about Fort Brown and higher up the river, but does not seem to 

 pass much into the interior of Texas. Mr. George B. Sennett says: 

 " Of all the birds on the Lower Rio Grande, this is the most mischiev- 

 ous, robbing and despoiling other birds' nests without mercy." 



Its nest, Mr. Sennett observes, is not easily found, for it is always 

 concealed in thickets, or in the heavy undergrowth of dense woods. 

 A large series of eggs was taken. Of those obtained early in April, 

 few were freshley laid, while all those obtained in May were fresh, in- 

 dicating that a second brood is reared, though no young of the first 

 brood were seen, while numbers of adults were observed daily from 

 April 9 until the last of May. On April 19 the first eggs were taken, 

 two sets being found ; one of four with large embryos, the other of 

 five, nearly fresh. The latest set, consisting of four fresh eggs, was 

 found May 17. The usual number of eggs to a clutch is four, occasion- 

 ally five. The average size of the specimens collected by Mr. Sennett 

 in a season is i.o6x.8i, those taken in another season's collecting, 

 1.08 x.Si. Dr. Merrill describes the eggs as having a grayish-white 

 ground-color, thickly spotted with brown and pale lilac, especially at 

 the larger end. One set, however, was found with the markings more 

 numerous at the smaller end, and averaging i.oix.So. 



484. Perisoreus canadensis (LINN.) [297.] 



Canada Jay. 



Hab. Northern New England and New York, Northern Michigan and Canada, northward to Arctic 

 America. 



The Moose-Bird, Whisky Jack, or Whisky John, as it is variously 

 called, breeds in Maine and northward. It is a resident species, and 

 seldom seen south of its breeding range. In Manitoba it is an abund- 



* Perhaps no explanation can be offered for the preparation of the nest so long before it is used. 

 The first nest was evidently complete on March 16, and it contained no eggs until later than April 1; the first 

 eggs must have been deposited between that date and the 7th. Mr. Scott states that the same facts have 

 been noted in the breeding of the Gray Vireo (Vireo vicinior}. As to the circumstance of the bird sitting so 

 constantly before laying he suggests that it is not improbable that it was in order to keep possession of their 

 nest, for as a number of individuals of the species composed the colony a question of ownership might easily 

 arise. He observes that the Arizona Jay is as great a robber of other birds' nests as its cousin of the East, and 

 possibly the habit of sitting so constantly even before any eggs are laid, is to be accounted for by a strongly 

 inherited tendency to prevent intrusion. The building of extra nests finds a parallel in the case of the Long- 

 billed Marsh Wrens, and is possibly to be accounted for by the nervous activity of the birds; or, the extra 

 nest may afford night resting places for the male during the breeding season. Auk, III, pp. 81-83. 



