PINYON JAY 305 



eggs vary in shape from short-ovate to elliptical-ovate, but ovate is 

 the prevailing shape. They are only slightly glossy. The ground color 

 is bluish white, greenish white or grayish white. This is usually evenly 

 covered all over with minute dots or small spots in various shades of 

 brown, from reddish brown to purplish brown ; sometimes there are 

 larger spots or even small blotches, which are apt to be concentrated 

 about the larger end. Bendire (1895) says that "an occasional set is 

 blotched heavily enough to nearly hide the ground color, but this 

 appears to be rarely the case." The measurements of 50 eggs in the 

 United States National Museum average 29.2 by 21.7 millimeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 32.0 by 22.6, 31.7 by 23.4, 

 26.3 by 20.7, and 28.0 by 20.0 millimeters. 



Young. — Major Bendire (1895) writes: "Incubation lasts about six- 

 teen days. The Piiion Jays are close sitters and, like Clarke's Nut- 

 cracker, are devoted parents. The young are able to leave the nest in 

 about three weeks, and may easily be distinguished by their somewhat 

 duller plumbeous blue color. They at once form in flocks and rove 

 about from place to place in search of food." 



Mr. Cameron (1907) says: "To the best of my belief, both birds 

 share the duties of incubation. * * * It is an interesting sight in June, 

 to watch a flock of some hundred or more Pition Jays which contains 

 a large proportion of the newly fledged young. After the latter can 

 fly well they still expect the parents to feed them, and clamor incessantly 

 to be fed, repeating their shrill monotonous cry of wauck on a single 

 note, whether on the ground or in the pine branches, voracious, open- 

 mouthed fledglings walk towards the parents, flapping their newly ac- 

 quired wings to attract attention. The old birds may then be seen 

 supplying them with grubs and insects. I observed one female feed a 

 single offspring on the ground several times in a few minutes." 



Mrs. Whcelock (1904) says that the young "learn to extract the 

 sweet kernels of the pifion nuts before they leave" the nest. "They are 

 also fed quite as fully on grasshoppers from which legs and wings 

 have been carefully removed." 



Plumages. — Mr. Cameron (1907) writes: "The naked slate-colored 

 young were hatched on June 15, so that the time of incubation was 

 about 18 days. They are fully feathered at two weeks old, being then 

 a uniform lavender of exactly the same color as the flower of that 

 name, with bill, legs, and feet to match. The hue is darkest on the 

 quills and lightest on the crissum. After leaving the nest they become 

 more ash gray, lighter below; the tail is then dark slate with a light 

 tip, and the ends of the primaries almost black. Until after the fall 

 moult the birds show no real blue." 



