CORVID^ — THE CROWS. 289 



Jolm Gould, differs again in having the dorsal patch obscured by a bluish 

 wasii ; an unusual amount of blue edging to the throat and jugular feathers, 

 and a dull brownish tinge to the belly. It almost suggests the possibility 

 of a hybrid form between sumichrasfi and idtraniarina. 



Habits. The California Jay appears to be a Pacific coast species, oc- 

 curring from the Columbia River southward to Cape St. Lucas, but imt 

 found in the interior at any considerable distance from the coast. Mr. 

 Eidgway speaks of it as the Valley Jay of California, having been observed 

 by him in abundance only among the oaks of the Sacramento Valley, the 

 brushw^ood of the ravines, and the scattered pines of the foot-hills along the 

 western base of the Sierra Nevada. It was also quite common, in April, in 

 the vicinity of Carson City, where he found it breeding. Its notes and 

 manners, he adds, are very similar to those of the Woodhouse Jay, belonging 

 to the wooded regions of the interior, but the shrill cries of this species are 

 even more piercing. There is, moreover, something in its appearance, caused 

 by the sharp contrast of the bright l)lue, the light ash, and the pure white 

 colors, by which it may be distinguished at a glance from the more uniformly 

 colored woodfimisei. 



Dr. Heerman speaks of it as frequenting to some extent the same districts 

 as Steller's Jay, but also found iu greater abundance throughout the val- 

 leys. He likewise describes it as noisy, alert, and cunning in its habits, 

 wild and wary, and yet often seeking the habitations of man, near which 

 to rear its young, drawn thither by the abundance of food found in such 

 localities. Their nests, he states, are built iu a tiiick-leaved bush, or on the 

 lower branches of an oak, at but little height from the ground. They are 

 constructed of twigs, and are lined with fine rootlets. The eggs, four in 

 number, are, he says, emerald-green iu color, profusely dotted with umber- 

 brown spots. 



Dr. Newberry states that he found the trees and the thickets liordering 

 the streams in the valleys the favorite haunts of the California Jay. As 

 his party ascended among the evergreen forests of the higher grounds, and 

 passed northeasterly from the Sacramento Valley, these birds were no 

 longer met with, and long before reaching the Oregon line they lost sight 

 of it altogether. Nor did they meet with it again until their return to 

 California. This Jay, lie adds, has all the sprightliness and restlessness of 

 the family, but is less noisy, and its notes are far more agTceable than those 

 of Steller's Jay, liy which it is replaced at the north. 



The Smithsonian Museum has a specimen of this species obtained on the 

 Columbia by Townsend, and Mr. Nuttall mentions that early in October, 

 on arriving at the forests of the Columbia, near Fort Vancouver, he met 

 with it in company with Steller's Jay. They were lireeding in tlie dark 

 pine woods, and by the 15th of June they were feeding their fully fledged 

 young. He also states that they were found as far north as Fraser's Eiver, 

 migrating to the south at the approach of winter. Without questioning the 



VOL. II. 37 



