28 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



on some safe perch, licked and mouthed again with intense satisfaction, then 

 finally eaten. They do this with no other food. * ♦ ♦ 



The Whiskey Jacks eat bread, porridge, uncooked rolled oats, cake, farinaceous 

 food in general, and, of course, meat, raw or cooked. They have taken an 

 occasional bite of apple or pear. Sometimes one will catch and eat an insect, but 

 they will not look at an earth-worm. Fish, either raw or cooked, they dislike. 



Mr. Rathbun has sent me the following note, made at Lake Crescent 

 on April 21, 1916: "Toda3% while slowly rowing along the shore of the 

 lake, I came across eight Oregon jays feeding among the growth of 

 willows and the debris strewn at the water's edge. The birds were en- 

 gaged in capturing the newly hatched stoneflies, very many of which 

 were fluttering about in the air or crawling on the rocks and broken 

 branches on the shore. The jays took the flies in the air as easily as 

 flycatchers capture insects. In early April, at the time the stoneflies 

 appear, these birds resort each morning to the shore of the lake to take 

 the insects named, and evidently capture a great number of them. We 

 have watched them do this time and time again." 



BehaT/ior. — The Oregon jay seems to be fully as fearless, sociable, and 

 mischievous as our more familiar "whisky jack." Major Bendire (1895) 

 quotes from Mr. Anthony's notes as follows : " 'Fearless' is an appro- 

 priate term to use in relation to this bird ; it seems utterly devoid of fear. 

 While dressing deer in the thick timber I have been almost covered with 

 Jays flying down from the neighboring trees. They would settle on my 

 back, head, or shoulders, tugging and pulling at each loose shred of my 

 coat until one would think that their only object was to help me in all 

 ways possible. At such times their only note is a low, plaintive cry." 

 Mr. Simpson (1925) writes: 



On the approach of a Hawk, whose presence is usually detected by these birds 

 from afar, they at once become perfectly motionless in the thickest part of a 

 bush, uttering a low, plaintive, warning cry. When hard pressed, they will 

 successfully fight off a Cooper's or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. After all these years 

 on the Lake shore, they continue to take a Gull or a Heron for a Hawk, and 

 display the same symptoms of fear. 



Unlike some of our race, they have a passion for soap! We cannot leave 

 a piece of soap outside the house for a short time without it being carried off by 

 the Jays. The camp soap suffers the same fate at 5000 ft. level in summer. 

 When carrying anything beyond the capacity of their beaks, they use both 

 feet with which to hold the object, the legs hanging straight down beneath 

 the body as they fly. 



As far as we have observed, these birds are a gentle, most lovable company, 

 minding their own business in bird-land, and never robbing a small bird's nest 

 (of which there are always several nearby of Song Sparrow, Yellowthroat, etc.). 



The Jays make free with our small garden, in which we find them admirable 

 companions, respecting all our cherished alpine plants as well as salads, tomatoes, 

 berries and the like. 



