woodhouse's jay 111 



pillars, and ants are also eaten." This jay probably has the same bad 

 habit as other jays of robbing small birds of their eggs and young, 

 though perhaps not to such an extent as the California jay. Mr. 

 Rockwell (1907) says: "I have never seen any indications of this 

 and judging from the good feeling which apparently exists between 

 these birds and other species I am inclined to think that their depreda- 

 tions are not as extensive as those of others of the jay family." 



Behavior. — Based on my rather limited experience with it in the field, 

 I should say that this is the shiest, most secretive, and most elusive of 

 all the jays that I have seen in life. Even in its favorite haunts, where 

 these jays are common, one is seldom seen except at a distance or as 

 a fleeting blue shadow disappearing through the underbrush. We often 

 saw one perched in an alert attitude on the top of some blackjack oak; 

 but, if we attempted to approach, it bobbed its head and body, gave 

 its harsh cry of alarm, and bounded off to a more distant tree ; within 

 about 50 yards was as near as we could come to it on the more open 

 slopes. In the ravines and gulches, where the trees and bushes grew 

 more thickly, we could get a closer view of it, but only for an instant, 

 as it made an abrupt dive downward from its observation perch and 

 faded away through the brushy tangle, not to be seen again. 



The facile pen of Dr. Coues (1874) describes its flight and other 

 movements much better than I can, as follows: "The flight of the bird 

 is firm and direct. When going far, and high over head, in flocks, 

 the wing beats are regular and continuous; among trees and bushes, 

 the short flights are more dashing and unsteady, performed with a 

 vigorous flap or two and a sailing with widely-spread wings and tail. 

 The tail is often jerked in the shorter flights, especially those of ascent 

 or the reverse, and its frequent motion, when the bird is not flying, is 

 like that seen in Pipilo or Mimus. Among the branches the bird moves 

 with agile hops, like all true Jays, and its movements when on the 

 ground have the same buoyant ease; it never walks, like Maximilian's 

 and other Crows." 



Dr. Walter P. Taylor writes to me: "Mr. Colton, proprietor of a 

 store at Grand Canyon, has a tame jay that he has been feeding for 

 four years. He whistles in a certain way, and the bird flies either 

 direct to his hand or to a nearby tree, from which it then flies to his 

 hand. The jay stands on the hand, picking up pinyon nuts until it 

 gets five or less. Five is the maximum. It then flies off down over 

 the edge of the Grand Canyon with its load, returning, if called, about 

 10 minutes later. It ate not only from Colton's hand but also from 

 Gilchrist's and mine." 



Voice. — Dr. Coues (1874) gives the following attractive account of 

 the vocal ability of this jay: 



