WESTERN BIRDS Jay 



west side of Napa Valley; in the winter east to the 

 Gabilan and Mt. Diablo ranges. 



While similar in habits to the type, it is said that both 

 the Blue-fronted and Coast Jays sometimes nest in 

 natural cavities in trees. 



GENUS APHELOCOMA: WOODHOUSE 

 JAY. 



Woodhouse Jay: Aphelocoma woodhouse. 

 FAMILY— MAGPIES AND JAYS. 



The Woodhouse Jay belongs to a group of flat-headed 

 birds, all of which, with the exception of the Florida Jay, 

 are found in the west. There are in all ten species and 

 subspecies. Couchs, which is found in western Texas, 

 and Arizona, which is a resident in the mountains of 

 southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico, have the 

 tails shorter than the wings. Six of the species have 

 tails longer than the wings. Two of these, the Blue- 

 eared and the Texas, are found only in Texas, while the 

 Santa Cruz is found only on the Santa Cruz Islands. 



The Woodhouse Jay dwells in the Great Basin and 

 adjacent arid regions, breeding from southeastern 

 Oregon, southern Idaho, and southern Wyoming, south to 

 southeastern California (east of the Sierra Nevada), 

 Arizona, New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, and west- 

 ern Texas. It is a handsome bird having dull blue upper 

 parts, save the back and scapulars (wings near body) 

 which are slate gray; tail and under coverts, blue; rest 

 of under parts gray, save the throat which is whitish 

 streaked with dark gray. Back and under parts of 

 young, darker; length from eleven to eleven and one- 

 half to twelve inches. 



105 



