BLUE-HEADED JAY 71 



recognized by the long, brownish-black c.rest, so conspicuous at all times 

 and giving the bird an entirely different outline from that of the flat- 

 headed jays of the genus Aphelocoma. The dark brownish-black head, 

 neck, upper breast, and upper back, contrasting with the blue of the 

 lower back and abdomen, are also distinctive; and the blue of the wings 

 and tail is conspicuous in flight. 



Winter. — In winter these jays desert to a large extent their summer 

 haunts in the mountain forests and wander about in the foothills and 

 valleys, visiting camps and ranches in search of food. John G. Tyler 

 (1913) says that "during the winter of 1900-01 large numbers of these 

 jays invaded the valley, being found literally by hundreds everywhere 

 eastward from Fresno, where they frequented the trees bordering the 

 vineyards, roadsides and ditches. Their large size and gay plumages 

 rendered them very noticeable, and no doubt not a few of their number 

 were missing when the blue-coated host returned to its Sierran home. 

 The species has not been observed in the valley since that time." 



CYANOCITTA STELLERI ANNECTENS (Balrd) 



BLACK-HEADED JAY 



The crested jay of the northern Rocky Mountain region is apparently 

 a connecting link between the long-crested jay (diademata) to the south- 

 ward and Steller's jay (stellcri) to the westward, as it combines some of 

 the characters of both races, in about equal proportions in the center of 

 its range. Baird recognized this fact when he suggested the appro- 

 priate name of annectens (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 1874). How- 

 ever, as it is an abundant form, covering a considerable range, it may 

 be well to give it subspecific status, rather than to consider it as merely 

 an intermediate, which, in fact, it really is. 



Ridgway (1904) describes it as "similar to C. s. stelleri, but with a 

 distinct (though sometimes small) elongated spot of grayish white 

 immediately above the eye; streaks on forehead (if present) paler 

 blue or bluish white ; chin and upper throat more conspicuously streaked 

 (the streaks grayish white rather than gray) ; back and scapulars rather 

 paler and grayer, and the blue of rump, upper tail-coverts, and under 

 parts of body paler and greener (nearly verditer or china blue)." 



The 1931 Check-list gives the range of this race as the "Boreal and 

 Transition zones of the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia south 

 to eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming." This is probably the main 

 breeding range of typical annectens, but it evidently intergrades gradu- 

 ally into typical stelleri from eastern British Columbia westward, and into 

 diademata from southern Wyoming southward. Major Bendire (1895) 

 sent 11 skins, taken near Walla Walla, Wash., to William Brewster, 



