34 THE STELLER JAY. 



Nesting. — Nest: a bulky mass of fine twigs thickly plastered centrally with 

 mud and lined with fine rootlets, placed 6-30 feet high in evergreen tree of thicket, 

 or near edge of clearing. Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, pale bluish green, uniformly but 

 moderately spotted with olive brown and pale rufous and with numerous "shell- 

 markings'" of lavender. Av. size, 1.23 x .90 (3 1. 2 x 22.8). Season: April 20- 

 May 10; one brood. 



General Range. — North Pacific Coast district from Gray's Harbor and 

 Puget Sound north to Cook's Inlet, except Prince of Wales Island and the Queen 

 Charlotte grou]:i ( where displaced by C. s. carlotlcc). 



Range in Washington. — Entire western portion from summit of Cascades, 

 shading inin L. s. carbonacca along north bank of the Columbia. Resident. 



Authorities. — ? Cyaniira stcUcri Swains., Orn. Com., Juurn. .Vc. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila. VII. 1837, 193. Cyanocitta stcUcri, Newberry, Rep. Pac. R. R. .Surv. VI. 

 pt. IV. 1857, p. 85. T. C&S. L- : Rh. Ra. Kk. U. E. 



Specimens.— U. of W. Prov. E. B. BN. 



MISCHIEF and tlie "Blue Jay" are synonymous. Alert, restless, saucy, 

 inquisitive, and provoking-, yet always interesting, this handsome brigand 

 keeps his human critics in a perpetual see-saw between wrath and admiration. 

 As a sprightly piece of Nature, the Steller Jay is an imqualified success. As 

 the hero-subject of a guessing contest he is without a peer, for one never knows 

 what he is doing until he has done it, and none may predict what he will do 

 next. 



The pioneers are especiallv bitter against him, and they are unanimous in 

 accusing the bird of malicious destructiveness in the gardens, which are dearer 

 than the apple of the eye during the first years of wilderness life. The liircfs 

 will eat an^•thing, and so>, tiring of bugs and slugs, are not averse to trying 

 corn, cabbage leaves, or, best of all, potatoes. They have observed the tedious 

 operation of the gardener in planting, and know precisely where the coveted 

 tubers lie. Bright and early the following morning they slip to the edge of the 

 clearing, post one of their number as lookout, then silently deploy upon their 

 ghoulish task. If they weary of potatoes, sprouting peas or corn will do. Or 

 perhaps there may Ije something interesting at the base of this young t(jmato 

 plant. And when the irate farmer appears upon the scene, the marauders retire 

 to the forest shrieking with laughter at the discomfitted swain. Ay ! there's 

 the rub! We may endure injury but not insult. Bang! Bang! 



As a connoisseur of birds' eggs, too. the Steller Jay enjoys a bad 

 eminence. The sufYerers in this case are chiefly the lesser song birds: l)ut no 

 eggs wdiatever are exempt from his covetous glance, if left unguarded. The 

 Jay has become especially proficient in the discovery and sacking of Bush-tits' 

 nests. Mr. D. E. Brown assures me that he has found as high as fifteen nests 

 of this bird in a single swamp, all gutted by Jays. When it is remembered 

 that these btisv little workers make one of the handsomest nests in the world, 

 the shame of this piracv gets u])on the nerves. The in\'estigation of Tits' 

 nests has something of the fascination of the gaming talile for the Jav, since 



fe 



