FAMILY CorvidcB 



Columbia south to Mexico, and from the 

 Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast; 

 casually east to Kansas and Arkansas. 



The pinon jay, blue crow, or pine jay, as 

 noted in the distribution, is a bird of the 

 pinon and juniper woods of the mountainous 

 and plateau districts of the west. It fre- 

 quents the belts of pine timber in the foot- 

 hills from California northward through 

 eastern Oregon and Washington to southern 

 British Columbia. Unlike most jays, it is 

 often found in large flocks after the breeding 

 season, swarming through the woods like a 

 flock of blackbirds and feeding on the 

 ground. It may often be seen pursuing 

 grasshoppers and other insects on the wing 

 after the manner of the flycatchers. 



The pinon jay seems to be an exception to 

 the rule among its kind in that it is a sociable 

 bird, being on good terms with other small 

 birds, nesting near them without harming 

 either eggs or young. And to prove its good 

 intentions it often builds its own nest in plain 

 sight on the lower branch of some tree, often 

 in small colonies. Its nest is a bulky affair, 

 composed of pinon needles, bits of sage brush 

 and shreds of bark, lined with rootlets and 

 dry grass well woven together. In the fall 

 when the young are full grown they may be 

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