woodhouse's jay 109 



composed of a platform of very crooked dead twigs, thickly interlaced to form 

 a basket-like structure, in which the nest proper was firmly placed. The latter, 

 which was entirely separate from the outer basket was a beautifully woven and 

 interlaced cup, composed of fine weed stalks on the outside, giving place to fine, 

 brown, fibrous rootlets toward the interior which was sparingly lined with 

 horsehair. 



In general appearance the exterior was not unlike the nest of the white-rumped 

 shrike, while the interior or nest proper closely resembled a black-headed gros- 

 beak's nest. The entire structure, while not particularly artistic, exhibited a 

 high grade of bird architecture and was remarkably strong and durable. 



The nest outside measured about six inches in diameter by six inclies in depth, 

 and the interior structure measured outside AYz inches in diameter by 2^ inches 

 deep; inside 3^ inches in diameter by 2% inches deep. 



Dr. Linsdale (1938b) thus records two Nevada nests: "An occupied 

 nest of this bird was found on June 4, 1932, on the top of a ridge, at 

 9,000 feet, near Wisconsin Creek (Orr). A jay was seen to slip away 

 through mountain mahoganies and pinons. About 100 feet from there 

 and 30 feet down a south-facing slope a nest was found in a piiion. 

 It was 7 feet above the ground, resting on the outer part of a limb and 

 supported by small twigs. The outer part of the nest which was 10 

 inches in diameter was composed of small and medium-sized twigs of 

 sage brush. The inner part was 5 inches in diameter and 2^ inches 

 deep. It was composed of fine grass stems and lined with porcupine hair." 



The other nest, from which the young had just flown, was found 

 "in a mountain mahogany, 5 feet above the ground, on the east side of 

 the tree and on a southeast- facing slope. The nest was about 9 inches 

 in diameter and was composed of small twigs. The cup was 5 inches 

 in diameter and an inch deep. It was made of small grass stems and 

 horsehair." 



There are three sets of eggs of Woodhouse's jay in my collection, 

 all from Utah. Two were placed in sagebushes, one 4 feet and the other 

 20 inches above ground. The other was placed in a young pine next 

 to the trunk and about 6 feet from the ground. The construction of the 

 nests was similar to that of those recorded above from Nevada. Frank 

 W. Braund tells me that he has a nest in his collection, taken on a 

 cactus desert in Arizona, that was 4 feet up in a white cholla cactus. 

 There are two nests in the Thayer collection in Cambridge ; one was 

 5 feet up in a scrub oak, lined with black horsehair ; the other was 6 

 feet from the ground in a cedar, lined with fine grass. 



Eggs. — Woodhouse's jay lays anywhere from three to six eggs to a 

 set, but oftener four or five. They are mostly ovate in shape, with 

 variations toward short-ovate or elliptical-ovate. They are only slightly 

 glossy. The ground color is light bluish green, "bluish glaucous," "pea 

 green," or pale "sage green." They are more or less evenly marked 



