THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 77 



orchard, or, at other times of scarcity, to glean scraps 

 of carrion ! His best living, probably, is when the nuts 

 are ripe and plenty. Like other members of the Crow 

 family, he can eat anything, and so is called omniv- 

 orous. 



In the breeding season the Blue Jay is partial to the ever- 

 greens of the forest, especially to dense cedar swamps, the nest 

 being most commonly built in an evergreen tree, generally 

 near the trunk, and anywhere from ten to thirty feet from the 

 ground. The outside of the nest is composed of small twigs, 

 the inside of fine rootlets, closely interwoven for the kind of 

 materials, and having a dark appearance. The eggs, four or 

 five in number, and about the size of those of a Robin, about 

 1.15 X -So, are greenish-drab, finely speckled all over with 

 light-brown and dull-lilac. 



Habitat, Eastern North America, from the Gulf to 56°^ 

 breeding throughout its range. 



The Florida Jay [Ap/ielocoma floridana)^ lacking the crest 

 and the elegant black bars on wings and tail, is also blue 

 and about the same size as the above. With no white 

 markings on wings and tail, a plain gray patch on the back, 

 and a whitish forehead, it is much plainer. The blue band 

 about the head and neck contrasts finely, however, with the 

 gray of the back and breast. It is abundant in Florida, 

 and seems to be pretty much confined to that locality. 



THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 



Between sunset and dark of this cold winter-day, I behold 

 a most beautiful effect in the eastern sky. All along 

 the horizon is a broad band of brilliant green, which 

 gradually shades into a still broader band of rich purple, 

 and this latter, on approaching the zenith, shades into a 

 cold winter-gray. In the midst of the purple is the moon 



