126 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



at the lower margin of the Basin, * * * at about 5000 feet. The nest, 

 which was compactly built, was about fifteen feet from the ground on a 

 bough that extended over the stream bed. The eggs were fresh. The 

 parent birds were noisy in defense of their nest. * * ♦ On May 1, 

 1935, Sutton found two nests, the first in the process of construction, 

 in a pine tree not far from the trail to Laguna at an elevation of 6000 

 feet; the second with two eggs, an incomplete set, in an oak near Boot 

 Spring. Both nests were well built, with an ample cup which was 

 neatly lined with rootlets. On May 17, 1932, Peet found a nest with 

 three well-fledged young ten feet from the ground in a small oak tree 

 near Boot Spring." 



Mr. Brandt (1940) found a number of nests of this jay in the same 

 region and says: "The Couch Jay of the Chisos Mountains appears to 

 have but little individuality in its nest building, for one abode seems 

 just like the other, and evidently it is perfectly satisfied with the ap- 

 pointments and furnishings of its home. The noteworthy feature of 

 each nest is the thick horsehair lining, which is woven concentrically 

 into a smooth, springy mattress of trim saucer shape. * * * The builder 

 is very particular in this respect, because it never seemed to use any 

 other lining in the nests we saw than the long black or white tail or 

 mane hairs of horses." 



He remarks that horses are scarce in that region and that the jays 

 must work hard to procure enough hair; but he suggests that, as he 

 found no hair lining in the old nests, the birds may rob the old nests 

 to line the new. He describes a nest that they found in a small oak, 

 12 feet up toward the top, in a tricleft crotch of a level limb. "It was 

 typical in every way of a jay's home, as it was made up of two dis- 

 tinct parts, the outer portion having a well-laced platform of twigs 

 neatly laid at various angles, and the inner structure composed, to a 

 depth of half an inch, of curly white grass, this lined in turn with a 

 mat of circularly woven, black-and-white horsehair to the thickness 

 of about an inch, and giving to the structure a soft gray color." 



He mentions another nest, at least 30 feet from the ground in a tall 

 pine tree. One was found "in an oak sapling, not over three feet from 

 the ground and fully exposed to view. Another nest w-as revealed in an 

 upper crotch of a pinyon, in which the sitting bird was at home, its 

 beautiful blue tail protruding colorfully over the side until I was able 

 almost to touch it, when it left headlong, to reveal four purple-skinned 

 jaylets." 



Eggs. — Four eggs seem to constitute the normal set for Couch's jay. 

 One would expect this jay to lay eggs like its Arizona subspecies, but 

 this is not so. Such an occurrence is unusual among subspecies. I 



