ROCKY MOUNTAIN JAY 17 



months it keeps within a few hundred feet of timber-line, frequenting 

 the darkest forests of spruce, and occasionally flying a little w^ay above 

 the trees." 



In New Mexico its range seems to be mostly above 11,000 feet, where 

 Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that "it belongs among the hemlocks and 

 spruces of the Hudsonian Zone." She gives a number of records for 

 north-central New Mexico, ranging from 7,800 up to 12,000 feet, but 

 says that 9,500 feet is about the usual lower limit of its range in fall and 

 winter. 



Nesting. — W. C. Bradbury (1918), after several unsuccessful attempts 

 and much heavy traveling in deep snow, finally succeeded in 1918 in se- 

 curing three nests of the Rocky Mountain jay in Colorado. One nest 

 was taken in Grand County on May 2 at an altitude of 8,600 feet; the 

 nest, which contained only two heavily incubated eggs, v/as in a lodgepole 

 pine "about twenty-five feet from the ground, in a rather bushy top, 

 located close to the trunk on a small limb. Some of the strings used in 

 the nest were neatly bound around the limb upon which it rested. The 

 outside framework is "composed chiefly of pine and other twigs." The 

 "nest proper" is "composed of fine grasses, cotton strings of several 

 sizes, and large amounts of unravelled rags and white rabbit hairs ; lined 

 with same material and feathers. There are several pieces of cotton 

 cloth spread between the twig foundation and the nest proper." 



Another nest was at "about 8,700 feet altitude in Saguache County, 

 Colo., in open stand of lodge-pole pine. The nest was on the south side 

 of a tree fifteen feet higli, located on two limbs two and one-half feet 

 from the trunk and five feet from the ground. * * * Nest proper com- 

 posed of fine grasses and bark fiber neatly and closely woven together, 

 and warmly lined with chicken and occasional grouse and jay feathers." 

 This nest contained three slightly incubated eggs on April 26. 



The third nest was taken in Gunnison County, at an elevation of 10,600 

 feet, on April 21, containing two eggs with well-developed embryos. 

 "The nest was in the top of a white spruce, fifty-five feet above the sur- 

 face of the snow, which was fourteen feet deep on the level. * * * The 

 entire structure is composed of spruce twigs and tree moss, with a small 

 amount of coarse wood fiber and an occasional feather, all very closely 

 and firmly intermixed and woven together. The cup is lined with tree 

 moss, grouse and a few other feathers." 



These nests are evidently quite similar to those of the Canada jay, and 

 the size is about the same, though the inner cup seems to be shallower, 

 1 M inches. The over-all outside diameter varies from 6^^ by 7 to 7 by 9 

 inches ; the outside height is 3 to 4 inches ; and the inner diameter of the 

 cup varies from 3 to 3^2 inches. 



