THE BLACK-HEADED JAY. 37 



Columbia River ; and since the district lying between the Cokimbia and Puget 

 Sound presents intergrades between C. slcllcri and C. s. carbonacea, obviously, 

 those Jays which inhaljit the southern portion of this debatable ground are 

 better entitled to be called carbonacea than stcllcri. 



No. II. 



BLACK-HEADED JAY. 



A. O. U. No. 478c. Cyanocitta stelleri annectens (Baird). 



Synonyms. — "Bluk Jay." Pine Jay. Mointaix Jay. 



Description. — ^-Idnlls: Similar to C". stcllcri, but marked with a small 

 lengthened white spot over eye; streaks on forehead (when present) paler blue or 

 whitish ; streaks on chin and upper throat whiter and more distinct ; blue areas 

 slightly paler and rather more greenish in tone. Size indistinguishable. 



Recognition Marks. — As in C. stcllcri. White spot over eye distinctive. 



Nesting. — As in C. stcllcri. 



General Range. — Eastern British Columbia and the northern Rocky Moun- 

 tains, south to Wahsatch Range in Utah, west to eastern slopes of Cascade Range 

 in Washington and Oregon. 



Range in Washington. — Forests of eastern ^^'ashington, shading into 

 typical stcllcri in Cascade Range. Nearly confined to pine timber. 



Authorities. — Cvanocitta stcllcri annectens. Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Orn. 

 Club, \'II.. 1882. 229: (C&S.) D". D-\ J. 



THERE is no such difference of plumage between C. stelleri and C. s. 

 aiineeteus as is suggested by the name "Black-headed" : Ijut in en(lea\-oring to 

 mark eight shades of dift'erence between tweedledum and tweedledee within 

 the limits of a single species, we are naturally pretty hard put to* it for 

 appropriate names. Ainieetens marks the annexion, or welding together, of 

 two branching lines in the C. stcllcri group. It is the head of the wish-bone, 

 whose divergent arms run down the Sierras to Lower California and along 

 the Rockies to Guatamala respectively. 



With a hypothetical center of distribution somewdiere in southeastern 

 British Columbia, this subspecies inosculates with stelleri in the mountains 

 of that province, and is roughly separated fn.m the western stuck Ijv the 

 central ridge oi the Cascades, in Washington. 



Black-headed Jays in Washington are normally cuufinerl to the limits 

 of coniferous timlier, being therefore most abundant in the northern portion, 

 in the Blue Mountains, and along the eastern slopes of the Cascades. We 

 have, however, like Bendire, discovered them on occasion skulking in the 



