494 LAND BIRDS 



Young : Uniform dull grayish blue, lighter beneath. 



Geographical Distribution : Plateau regions of Western North America, 

 from the Rocky Mountains west to the Pacific coast ranges, north to 

 British Columbia, south to Lower California, Texas, and Mexico. 



California Breeding Range : In the pihon belt of the desert ranges, 

 southeast of the Sierra Nevada and locally along the whole length 

 of the Sierra Nevada from Mt. Shasta to the San Bernardino 

 mountains. 



Breeding Season : March 15 to May 15. 



Nest: 5 to 12 feet from the ground; deep, bulky and compact; com- 

 posed of pinon, sagebrush, shreds of bark ; lined with fibre, rootlets, 

 and dry grasses thoroughly woven together. 



Eggs: 3 to 5; bluish white, entirely covered with fine specks of brown, 

 and sometimes with larger spots and blotches at the larger end. Size 

 1.19 X 0.87. 



The Pinon Jay is also called Nutcracker, Blue Crow, 

 and Pinario by the Mexicans, in reference to its fondness 

 for the nuts of the variety known as pinon. It is a 

 haunter of the pinon-covered foot-hills, and scarcely ever 

 roves into the higher coniferous forests. Eminently 

 social at all times, it is found in flocks of hundreds 

 feeding upon the ground after the fashion of blackbirds, 

 and like them constantly in motion, — those in the rear 

 flying over those feeding ahead of them and alighting in 

 front of the flock. In this way they progress from place 

 to place, and collectors who know this peculiarity hide 

 along the route to wait for a good shot. Their constant 

 chatter can be heard a long distance, and betrays their 

 approach. They are occasionally seen in company with 

 Clarke nutcrackers in the pinon groves ; but, although 

 they are great rangers, here to-day and gone to-morrow, 

 they do not follow the latter in their vertical migration 

 to the high altitudes, nor are they commonly found 

 north of latitude 40°. 



