SOUTHERN BLUE JAY 53 



CYANOCITTA CRISTATA CRISTATA (Llnnaeut) 



SOUTHERN BLUE JAY 

 Plate 11 



HABITS 



Dr. Oberholser (1921) has shown that the range of this race has 

 been found to extend much farther north, including South Carolina, 

 the type locality of Cyanocitta cristata cristata (Linnaeus), which, of 

 course, necessitates the relegation of the subspecific name florincola 

 and the common name Florida blue jay to synonymy. This would 

 leave the northern blue jay without a name, for which Dr. Oberholser 

 proposed the subspecific name bromia. The 1931 Check-list admits this 

 extension of range as far north as North Carolina but entirely ignores 

 the fact that the name C. c. cristata (Linnaeus) was based on Catesby's 

 bird, which undoubtedly represents this southern race. 



I prefer to use Arthur H. Howell's (1932) names, Cyanocitta cris- 

 tata cristata (Linnaeus) and "southern blue jay," for this race. He 

 says that its range covers approximately the northern half of the State, 

 at least as far south as Volusia and Lake Counties, where it probably 

 begins to intergrade with the extreme southern form, semplei. W. E. 

 Clyde Todd (1928), who described semplei, seems to think that speci- 

 mens taken north of the Everglades are not typical of either race, thus 

 allowing a large area of intergradation. 



This race is smaller than the northern race, with coloration paler and 

 duller and with the white tips of the greater wing coverts, secondaries, 

 and tail feathers smaller. 



Nesting. — The nesting habits of the southern blue jay are not very 

 different from those of the northern blue jay, with due allowance made 

 for the difference in environment. Major Bendire (1895) writes: 



Two nests found by Dr. Ralph were placed in low, flat pine woods, 25 and 

 30 feet, respectively, from the ground ; these were composed of twigs, Spanish 

 moss, pine needles, and pieces of cloth, and lined with fine roots. In some of 

 the nests the material were cemented with mud. A third nest was placed in 

 an orange tree standing within a few feet of a house, near the banks of the 

 St. John's River, about 20 feet from the ground; it was composed of twigs, 

 catkins, plant fibers, weeds, grasses, pieces of string, and a little Spanish moss, 

 and these materials were cemented together with mud; the lining consisted 

 entirely of wire grass (Aristida). Another nest was placed among some small 

 branches at the end of a limb of an orange tree, about 11 feet from the ground, 

 and was composed of similar materials outwardly, but no mud was used in its 

 construction, and it was thickly lined with fine rootlets of the orange tree. 



The average measurement of two nests is about 8 inches in outside diameter by 

 4 inches in depth, the iimer cup measuring about 4 inches in diameter by 2% 

 inches in depth. 



Mr. Howell (1932) says that the "nests are placed in trees — com- 



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