FLORIDA JAY 79 



a former Audubon warden of the Southwest Coastal Patrol. He writes 

 me that on nearly 2 years' duty in the field from Fort Myers to Cape 

 Sable he saw the Florida jay but once, and that was on Marco Island 

 (Collier County) on October 27, 1936. Marco is about 15 miles south 

 of Naples. Concerning this occurrence he states: "I saw this individual 

 near the cemetery on the north end of the island and am inclined to 

 believe it was a straggler. I searched the same locale numbers of times 

 and also the piny woods a great deal, with the sole purpose of digging 

 up resident birds. Near Caxambas (southern end of Marco) are wonder- 

 ful live-oak thickets where I hunted them to no avail." 



Here and there throughout Florida in suitable areas, inland as well 

 as coastal (some in the very middle of the State), one can find this 

 species up to Gainesville (interior) and Pine Point (west coast) just 

 to the north of the mouth of the Suwannee River. It does not occur at 

 all in the western "handle" of Florida. It is also absent from the open 

 Everglades as well as the Kissimmee Prairie — Lake Okeechobee region. 

 It has been noted sparingly in the Big Cypress Everglades about the 

 village of Innnokalee. 



There are no records of this jay outside of Florida. I c.an find but 

 one instance of a sight record beyond the confines of that State and 

 that is considered unreliable by contemporary and present ornithologists. 

 Not only is this jay confined to Florida exclusively, but very definitely 

 to certain portions of that State. 



CoVii'tsIiip. — Nothing in the literature I have seen throws any light 

 on the courtship of cocndcscens. Even those who live in its range and 

 know tb.e bird intimately say nothing about it. Personally, I have seen 

 no evidence of it, and cannot speak from experience. S. A. Grimes, oi 

 Jacksonville, who knows the bird as well as any ornithologist living, 

 states that it is his belief that pairs remain mated throughout the year. 

 This is very probably the case and would account to a large degree for 

 the lack of rmy literature on this phase of the bird's habits. 



Nesting. — The Florida jay is gregarious in its nesting habits to the 

 extent of gathering in small, scattered colonies. Perhaps half a dozen 

 pairs will sometimes occupy a tract of scrub of limited extent, but again 

 a nest may be found at some distance from any other pair. 



Material is usually the same in all cases, viz, oak twigs of varjang 

 shapes and thickness, formed into a substantial, thick-walled cup lined 

 with fine rootlets. It is much like the nest of the blue jay (Cyanociita 

 cristata) in appearance and structure but, unlike that species, does not 

 occupy such elevation, for it is usually constructed at 4 to 12 feet above 

 ground. Probably a high Florida jay nest would be about at the elevation 

 of a low blue jay's. Necessarily, it is rather limited in the choice of 



