couch's jay 127 



have not seen any of its eggs, but they have been well enough described 

 by others to show the difference. Mr. Brandt (1940) says: "All ten 

 sets of Texas eggs that we observed were invariably dotted with dark, 

 greenish spots on a paler greenish ground color, closely resembling the 

 eggs of the California Jay group." 



Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) say: "The eggs are Pale Nile Blue 

 speckled and blotched with pale brownish markings, ranging from mere 

 specks to blotches one and two millimeters in diameter. The markings 

 tend to be concentrated more about the large end, and on one egg there 

 is a distinct wreath of marks about that end." 



The measurements of 28 eggs average 28.6 by 21.9 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 30.3 by 21.3, 29.0 by 24.0, 

 26.0 by 22.0, and 28.5 by 20.7 millimeters. 



Plumages. — The plumage changes of Couch's jay are probably sim- 

 ilar to those of the Arizona jay, except that, as mentioned by Van Tyne 

 and Sutton (1937), the young bird acquires an entirely black bill soon 

 after it leaves the nest, whereas in the Arizona bird the base of the bill 

 remains light colored for about a year. Also, whereas the Arizona 

 bird begins the postnuptial molt about the first of August, they found 

 that Couch's jay was "molting heavily at least a month earlier." 



Food. — What small scraps of information we have on the food of 

 this jay indicate that it does not differ materially from that of the 

 Arizona jay, or from that of the Aphelocoma genus in general. Its 

 haunts are so far removed from human settlements and agricultural 

 regions that it is probably of little economic importance. Van Tyne 

 (1929) says: "Their food consisted mainly of coleoptera and orthoptera, 

 together with a few nuts and seeds. They probably also raid the nests 

 of small birds, for I saw them repeatedly pursued by Scott's Orioles 

 and Mockingbirds whose nests they had approached." 



Mr. Brandt (1940) emphasizes the latter trait, saying: "At nesting 

 time this winged coyote is the most competitive of all egg collectors as 

 it moves wantonly through the wild countryside, sly, observant, and 

 alert. It is when the callow young are in the cradle that it is most in- 

 satiable, and levies a heavy toll wherever the slightest opportunity 

 offers." 



Behavior. — Mr. Brandt (1940) noted that these jays "traveled about 

 in scattered groups numbering up to a dozen birds, which usually moved 

 forward through the trees by short flights, one bird flying over the 

 other and then alighting until those in the rear repeated the maneuver. 

 Their more extended flight is direct, and performed by quick wing-beats, 

 with brief cessations at intervals." He found it an easy matter to call up 

 an unseen flock of these jays, almost anywhere within their habitat, by 



