CALIFORNIA JAY 99 



presence in such a loud voice that every creature within hearing is 

 warned to disappear. 



This jay seems to have a sense of humor or a fondness for play. 

 Joseph Mailliard (1904) gives an amusing account of the behavior of 

 California jays with his cats, stealing their food and teasing them. 

 While a jay is attempting to steal food from a cat, "each has the measure 

 of the other, and while a cat is watching, it is rarely that a jay ap- 

 proaches within reach of its business end, though it will do all it can to 

 make the cat jump at it, or at least turn away. Grimalkin has learned to 

 keep her tail well curled up when feeding, as a favorite trick of the jay 

 is to give a vigorous peck at any extended tail and, when the cat turns 

 to retaliate, to jump for the prize and make ofif with shrieks of exulta- 

 tion. * * * To find a cat napping, with its tail partially extended is ab- 

 solute joy to one of these birds, which will approach cautiously from the 

 rear, cock its head on one side and eye that tail until it can no longer 

 resist the temptation, and, finally after hopping about a few times most 

 carefully and noiselessly, Mr. (or Mrs.) Jay will give the poor tail a 

 vicious peck and then fly, screeching with joy, to the nearest bush." 



One day, after one of the cats had hidden her newly born kittens in 

 the garden, "a faint mewing outside the window attracted the attention 

 of someone in the kitchen when lo and behold there was a jay hauling 

 a very young kitten out from under a young artichoke plant in the 

 garden. The jay lugged the poor kitten along for a little way, seeming 

 to enjoy its feeble wails, and then stopped and screeched in exultation 

 over the find, only to repeat the process again and again. Needless to 

 say the old cat was not present at the moment or things would have been 

 made more lively. The bird certainly did not want to eat the kitten, and 

 the affair seems to have been nothing else than a matter of pure mis- 

 chief." 



Voice. — Mrs. Bailey (1902) describes this jay's voice very well as 

 follows: "The Aphelocoma voice differs strikingly from that of frontalis, 

 having a flat tone and being uttered with unseemly haste. Its notes vary 

 greatly in expression and are so emphatic and often peremptory that 

 one cannot doubt that something important is being said. A favorite 

 cry, used apparently to rouse attention, is quick ' quay-qu<iy-quay-quay- 

 quay-qitay-quay.' Another still more emphatic one is hoy'ee hoy'-ec 

 while an inquiring qiiay-kee? is often heard. Sometimes when a jay flies 

 down to a companion it gives its quay-quay-quay-quay-quay and is 

 answered by a high-keyed queep-qtieep-queep-queep — ^however that may 

 be interpreted." 



Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says that "the California Jay utters a succes- 

 sion of harsh cries like the syllable fschek, tschek, slightly higher pitched 



