NORTHERN BLUE JAY 35 



Nesting. — Bendire (1895), in his excellent account of the blue jay, 

 says : "It prefers mixed woods to live in, especially oak and beech woods , 

 but for nesting sites dense coniferous thickets are generally preferred; 

 oaks, elms, hickories, and various fruit trees, thorn bushes, and shrubbery 

 overrun with vines are also used, the nests being placed in various 

 situations, sometimes in a crotch or close to the main trunk, or on the 

 extremity of a horizontal limb, among the outer branches. They are 

 placed at distances from the ground varying from 5 to 50 feet, but usually 

 below 20 feet. * * * I believe but one brood is usually reared in a season, 

 but in the South they may occasionally raise two." 



Describing typical nests, he says : "The nests are generally well hidden, 

 and are rather bulky but compactly built structures, averaging from 7 to 

 8 inches in outer diameter by 4 to 4^^ inches in depth ; the inner cup 

 measures about 3/^ to 4 inches in diameter by 23^ inches in depth. 

 Outwardly they are composed of small twigs (thorny ones being pre- 

 ferred), bark, moss, lichens, paper, rags, strings, wool, leaves, and dry 

 grasses, the various materials being well incorporated and sometimes 

 cemented together with mud, but not always; the lining is usually com- 

 posed exclusively of fine rootlets. Occasionally the Blue Jay will take 

 the nest of another species by force." 



John R. Cruttenden writes to Mr. Bent from Illinois: "A peculiar 

 habit of this bird is to line its nest with a piece of cloth or waste paper. 

 This is true in the majority of nests placed near dwellings or in the city, 

 undoubtedly because of the more abundant supply of materials in the 

 city, although the habit is not unusual in nests situated away from man." 

 Henry Mousley (1916) reports: "Evidently the Blue Jay betakes itself 

 to very secluded spots during the breeding season, as I have only suc- 

 ceeded so far in finding one nest, in May of the present year (1915), and 

 had never seen the bird before during the months of June, July and 

 August." Mr. Mousley is speaking here of his experience in Hatley, 

 Quebec. Farther to the south, in New England and the Middle Atlantic 

 States, however, the jay commonly breeds in thickly settled regions, often 

 near houses, as the following observations show. 



Frederic H. Kennard (1898) writes: "We have a pair of Blue Jays 

 (Cyanocitta cristata) in Brookline, Mass., that have this year built their 

 nest in a most conspicuous place, between the stems of a Wistaria vine 

 and the capitol of a pillar, supporting a piazza roof. This piazza is in 

 almost daily use, and the path leading immediately beside it is also used 

 constantly." Charles R. Stockard (1905), writing of Mississippi, says: 

 "With the exception of the English Sparrow the Blue Jay is probably 

 the most abundant bird in the State. The shade trees bordering the 

 streets of towns, the groves near dwelling houses, trees along road sides, 



