NORTHERN BLUE JAY 37 



Jays are very quiet about their nest. I knew of a nest near the center 

 of the city of Cambridge, Mass., and if I had not happened to see the 

 nest, I should not have suspected that jays were breeding near, 



Bendire (1895) quotes W. E. Loucks, of Peoria, 111., as saying: "A 

 nest of a pair of Robins, built in an elm tree, was stolen and appropriated 

 by a pair of these birds. It was fitted up to suit their needs, and eggs 

 were deposited in it before the eyes of the angry Robins." 



A. D. Dubois sent the following note to Mr. Bent: "While listening 

 to the Memorial Day exercises in the auditorium at Chautauqua Grounds 

 (a large pavilion with open sides) I noticed a jay which flew in from 

 the side and up to a nest in one of the roof trusses, where it fed its young 

 and flew out again. This is the first jay's nest I have ever found in a 

 building of any kind." 



Dr. Samuel S. Dickey (MS.) reports that nests found by him have 

 been in the following trees: 20 in white pines, 18 in hemlocks, 2 in red 

 spruces, 2 in intermediate firs, 12 in white oaks, 5 in alders (Alnus 

 incana and riigosa), and one each in a pitch pine, sour gum, Cassin's 

 viburnum (only 3^ feet from the ground), and flowering dogwood. 



Eggs. — [Author's note: The northern blue jay ordinarily lays 

 four or five eggs, sometimes as few as three, frequently six, and very 

 rarely as many as seven. These are quite uniformly ovate in shape, 

 with occasionally a tendency toward short or elliptical ovate ; they have 

 very little or no gloss. The ground color is very variable, and shows two 

 very distinct types, an olive type and a buff type, with a much rarer 

 bluish type ; the olive type is by far the commonest. In eggs that I have 

 examined, I have noted the following colors : "Olive-bufif," "deep olive- 

 buff," "dark olive-buff," pale "ecru-olive," "pale fluorite green," pale 

 "lichen green," "pale glaucous green," "sea-foam yellow," "light buff." 

 "light ochraceous-buff," "pinkish buff," "pale pinkish buff," and pale 

 "vinaceous-buff." There are also many intermediate shades of pale olives, 

 buffs, greens, and very pale "wood brown," down to pale dull blue, 

 bluish white, or greenish white. 



The eggs with the pinkish-buff ground color are often very pretty, 

 being sparingly marked with small spots of bright or purplish browns, 

 and with underlying spots of pale quaker drab or lavender. The pale 

 greenish and bluish types are also sparingly marked with pale, dull 

 browns or olives and a few underlying spots. The olive types are usually, 

 but not always, more heavily marked with spots and small blotches of 

 darker browns and olives of various shades. Some eggs are evenly 

 marked over the entire surface with spots or fine dots, and in others the 

 markings are concentrated at one end; an occasional tgg has a few 

 black dots. 



667497—46—4 



