554 NESTS AND EGGS OF ARIZONA BIRDS. 



NO. 482. APHELOCOMA SIEBERII ARIZONA RiDG. 

 The Aiazox.v .Jay. 



This Jay is a common resident throughout the jear iu the vicinity of 

 Fort Huachuca, frequenting the oak groves nearthebaseof the mount- 

 ains, as well as the banks of the usually dry water-courses, but where 

 there is always considerable shrubbery to be found, notwithstanding. 

 They are more or less gregarious at all times, and noisy as well. In 

 their flight they resemble hawks swooping for prey, rising high iu the 

 air, closing their wings, and darting suddenly down, then up again, re- 

 peating the same maneuver again and again. They feed on insects as 

 well as on acorns. Their nests, about Fort Iluachuca at least, where 

 Lieutenant Benson took some thirty during the months of April and 

 May, 1887, were all placed in oak trees from 12 to 30 feet from the 

 ground, usually* about 15 feet high. 



The nest and eggs of this species were first discovered by Mr. F. 

 Stephens near Fort Bayard, N. Mex., on April 20, 1870, and an egg of 

 this set is now in the Museum collection. kSince then two or three more 

 nests and eggs Avere taken by W. E. 1). Scott in the Santa Catalina 

 Mountains, in Arizona, and described by him in the Auk, Vol. Ill, Jan., 

 188G, pages 81 and 82. 



A nest of this species now before me, taken by Lieutenant Benson 

 April G, 1887, differs somewhat from those described by INIr. Scott. It 

 is outwardly composed of small sticks and twigs. Xext comes a layer 

 of fine rootlets well woven together. This mass is over half an inch in 

 thickness, and finally the inner nest is lined witli a liberal supply of 

 horsehair. It is a well-constructed nest; measures abouu 10 inches 

 across outwardl.y by 4 inches in depth. The innerdiameter of the nest 

 is about 4^ inches by 2 inches in depth. 



The eggs of this Jay differ from all the known eggs of this family 

 found breeding within the United States in being perfectly unspotted. 

 It has been stated that these eggs were almost indistinguishable from 

 those of the Robin, Mcrula migratoria (Linn), and the Crissal Tlirasher, 

 Harporhynchns crissaUs (Henry), but on carefully comparing the series 

 of eggs of the three species in question, now in the IMuseuui collection, 

 1 find that this is not the case. This series numbers as follows: 



Specimens. 



Eggs of Merula m \(jrn toria Linn 102 



Eggs of Merula migratoria propingua RiDG G2 



Eggs of Ilarporhfineh iia crissaJis Henry 29 



Eggs of Aphclocoma sicherii arizonw Rli>G 136 



I find that aside from the almost uniformly larger size of the eggs of 

 this Jay, their color is radically different from that found in the eggs of 

 the other two species mentioned. Glaucous-green comes nearest to ex- 

 pressing it. This term is taken from R. liidgway's work entitled "A 



