PERCHING BIRn.^ 



477. Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata 

 cristata. 



Greenish buff 



Blue Jay 



Range. — North America, east of the Plains 

 and north to Hudson Bay; resident and very 

 abundant in its United States range. 



These beautiful and 

 bold maurauders are too 

 well known to need de- 

 scription, suffice it to 

 say that they are the 

 most beautiful of North 

 American Jays ; but be- 

 neath their handsome 

 plumage beats a heart 

 as cruel and cunning as 

 that in any bird of prey. In the fall, winter 

 and spring, their food consists largely of 

 acorns, chestnuts, berries, seeds, grain, insects, 

 lizards, etc., but during the summer months 

 they destroy and devour a great many eggs and 

 young of the smaller birds, their taste for 

 which, being so great that they are known to 

 watch a nest until the full complement of eggs 

 is laid before making their theft. They nest 



in open woods or clumps of trees, indifferently, in pines or young trees, build- 

 ing most often below twenty feet from the ground; the nests are made of twigs 

 and rootlets, lined with fine rootlets. During May they lay from four to six 

 eggs of a greenish buff color spotted with olive brown. Size 1.10 x .80 



477a. Florida Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata. florincula. 



Range. — Florida and the Gulf coast. 



The nesting habits and eggs of this smaller sub-species are the same as those 

 of the northern Blue Jay. Like our birds, they frequently nest near habitations. 



478. Steller's Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri stellcri. 



Range. — Pacific coast from southern California to Alaska; resident and breed- 

 ing throughout its range. 



All the members of this sub-species are similar in 

 plumage, having a sooty black head, crest and neck, 

 shading insensibly into dark bluish on the back and 

 underparts, and brighter blue on the wings and tail. 

 They usually have a few streaks or spots of pale blue on 

 the forehead. They are just as noisy, bold and thievish 

 as the eastern Jay and are also excellent mimmics like 

 the latter. They nest in fir trees at any height from the 

 ground and in April or May deposit their three to six 

 greenish blue eggs which are spotted with various 

 shades of brown. Size 1.25 x .90. Their nests are more 

 bulky than those of the eastern Jay and are usually made of larger sticks and 

 held together with some mud. 



478a. Blue-b'Ronted Jay. Cyanocitta stellcri frontalis. 



Range. — Coast ranges of California and Oregon. 



The nesting habits and eggs of this variety are indistinguishable from those 

 of the preceding. The bird has more blue on the forehead. 



478b. LoNG-CRESTED J AY. Cyanocitta stellcri diademata. 



Range. — Southern Rocky Mountains from Arizona to Wyoming. 



No general difference can be found between the eggs of this species and the 

 Steller Jay, and the nests of each are constructed similarly and in like situa- 

 tions. 303 



Greenish blue 



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