FLORIDA JAY 77 



Cyanocitta stelleri anfvectens (Baird) of the northern Great Basin in de- 

 cidedly paler coloration throughout, more extensively white eyelids and 

 longer crest." 



He gives the known range as "Transition Zone in the Sheep and 

 Charleston Mountains, Clark County, Nevada." This race seems to be 

 closely related to the long-crested jay, which it probably resembles in 

 habits. 



APH£LOCOA[A COERULESCENS COERULESCENS (BoK) 

 FLORIDA JAY 



Plates 14-16 



Contributed by Axxxander Sprunt, Jr. 



HABITS 



Some birds are so thoroughly typical of certain habitats that one looks 

 for them almost automatically when passing through such places. Per- 

 haps of no species is this more true than the Florida jay. Indeed, so 

 true is it that the local term for the habitat is applied to the bird itself, 

 and thus we have the "scrub jay," the universal name of the species in 

 Florida. 



No visitor to that fascinating State can have failed to notice the 

 topographical divisions that distinguish it, and the "scrub" is essentially 

 Floridian. The scrub consists, according to Arthur H. Howell (1932), 

 of a type of vegetation peculiar to Florida that occupies scattered areas 

 of whitish sand in the lake region, a narrow strip along the east coast, 

 and smaller tracts on the west coast from Manatee County south to 

 Collier County. The characteristic plants of the scrub are the sand pine 

 (Pinus clatisa) and shrubby oaks of several species (Quercus myrtifolia, 

 Q. geminata, Q. cateshaei). These oaks, with saw palmetto and rose- 

 mary (Ceratiola ericoides), form dense and almost impenetrable thickets. 



Proceeding south from Jacksonville one encounters the scrub just 

 south of St. Augustine on the seacoast. Along the Ocean Shore Boule- 

 vard the great stretches of saw palmetto behind the dunes of the sea 

 beach reach away inimitably in front of the car. 



Here and there roadside signs, advocating the advantages of hotels, 

 camps, and fishing guides, rear themselves above the gray-green fronds, 

 and on these structures, as well as on the lines of telephone wires, one is 

 almost certain to see that characteristic blue and gray dweller of the low 

 growth perched in plain view of pedestrian or motorist, its crestless head 

 and long tail In sharp silhouette against the sky. As many as two dozen 

 "scrub jays" may be seen between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach any 



