40 THE OREGON JAY. 



No. 13- 



OREGON JAY. 



A. O. U. No. 485. Perisoreus obscurus (Ridgway). 



Synonyms. — C.ami' Robbek. Meat Bird. Deer Hunter. 



Description. — Adults: In general upperparts deep brownish gray; uuder- 

 parts white tinged with brownish ; forehead and nasal plnmules most nearly clear 

 white ; chin, throat, cheeks, auriculars, and obscure band around neck white 

 more or less tinged with brownish ; crown and nape sooty brown, nearly black ; 

 feathers of back with white shafts more or less exposed ; wings and tail drab gray, 

 the former with whitish edging on middle and greater coverts and tertials. Bill 

 and feet black; iris brown. Vouiuj birds are nearly uniform .^ooty brown lighten- 

 ing below. Length lo.oo-ii.oo; wing 5.30 ( 135) ; tail 5.00 ( 127) : bill .71 (18) ; 

 tarsus 1.30 i},^)- 



Recognition Marias. — Rol)in size; brownish gray coloration, familiar, fear- 

 less ways. Not certainly distinguishable afield from the ne.xt form. 



Nesting. — Nest: a bulky compacted structure of twigs, plant-fibers and tree- 

 moss with warm lining of fine mosses and feathers, placed well up in fir tree. 

 Eggs: 4 or 5, light gray or pale greenish gray spotted with grayish brown and 

 dull lavender. Av. size 1.04 x. 79 {26.4 x. 20). Season: Feb. -April ; one brood. 



General Range. — Pacific Coast district from Humboldt county, California, 

 north to Vancouver Island. Imperfectly made out as regards following form. 



Range in Washington. — Probably the Olympic Mountains and irregularly 

 thru the heavier forests of southwestern Washington. 



Authorities. — P. canadensis Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R R. Surv. IX. pt. II. 

 1858, 591 part. Ridgway. Bull. Essex Inst. \". Nov. 1873, 194. (T) C&S. E'. 

 Rh. Ra. B. E( ?). 



Specimens. — V . of W. Prov. E. C. 



THE relati\-e distribution of the Oregon Jay and the more recently dis- 

 tinguished Grav Jav is still \-ery imperfectly understood. It w-ould apjjear 

 probaljle that this form is the l)ird of the rainy district, including all lowlands 

 of western \\'ashington, tlie Olympic Mountains, and the western slopes of 

 the Cascades, and that it gi\es place to P. 0. grisciis not only upon the heights 

 and eastern slopes of the Cascades, but in the deep valleys whicii penetrate 

 these mountains from the west. 



Certainly it is the Oregon Jay which abounds in the Olympic ^Mountains, 

 and among the dense spruce forests of the adjoining coasts. While the jjird is 

 more abundant im the lowlands in winter, the prevalent opinidU that the Oregon 

 Jay is exclusively a bird oi the mountains is probably incorrect. Altho bold 

 enough where undisturbed, the birds soon learn caution ; and their nests have 



