1887.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 211 



Pica uuttalli Ami. Yellow-billed Ma<jpie. 



A very couuuou constilnt resident of the Upper ^Sacramento ^'alley 

 out of which it was not observed. IMagpies were always to be found 

 about the buildings on the ranches around lied Blulf, and their brush- 

 pile iiests were conspicuous objects in tlie scraggy oak trees near them. 

 They began making repairs on several old nests about March 10, but 

 1 found no eggs, althougli I ius])ected them regularly for a month or 

 more. I have no reason to believe that any new nests were built, but 

 1 think that the birds laid their eggs in two oi- three old nests that were 

 inaccessible to me. All those examined were found to be roofed with 

 twigs in the usual manner of Magpies' nests, and had oi)enings on op- 

 posite sides so that the birds could enter and leave without the incon- 

 ^•euience of turning their long tails in crowded (inarters. 1 saw a pair 

 of sparrow hawks Hying in and out of one of these arboreal brush-piles 

 early in the spring, but could not determine whether they nested there 

 on account of its inaccessible situation, 



Cyanocitta stelleii (Guiel.). !<lelhrs Jaij. 



Moderately common among the redwoods of Humboldt County. 



Cyanocitta stelleii frontalis (lii(lg\Y.). /line-fronted Juy. 



This jay is a very common inhabitant of the pine region, wintering 

 in consideral)le numbers in the foot-hills, where a few remain to breed* 

 I found full grown young birds at tiiC timber-line of Shasta in midsum- 

 mer. It was not observed in the Sacramento Valley in winter. 



Aphelocoma californica (Vig. ). California Jai/. 



A common resident of the foot-hills in summer and of the valleys in 

 winter, generally speaking, stragglers being found in both regions at 

 all seasons. It was very rarely found in the higher i)ine country. One 

 specimen was obtained near the base of Mount Shasta, at an altitude 

 of 4,500 feet. The only nest obtained at Eed Bluff was taken May 1. 



Perisoreus obscurus (Kidgw.). Ore'jon Jai/. 



The only place in the interior where I found this species was on the 

 heavily-timbered slopes of Mount Shasta a lev/ thousand feet below 

 timber-line, where four Hocks of about half a dozen birds each were 

 seen. I saw a floek on the west side of the mountain on July 30. Ten 

 specimens were collected on the east side during August and Septem- 

 ber. On September 7 1 crippled one of a band of five, which scieamed 

 so continuously that its comrades returned and assaulted it furiously. 

 They were so excited by its cries that I shot one after the other in quick 

 succession until all were immolated upon the altar of ornithology, the 

 last one still violentlj' attacking the first unfortunate. These very 

 interesting birds never appeared as pests about our camp, as they are 

 known to do in Oregon and elsewhere. They were silent creatures, 

 with the exception of a startling scream sometimes uttered when flying 



