306 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The postjuvenal molt seems to be very variable as to date, on account 

 of the variation in the date of hatching, but it occurs before fall and 

 apparently involves everything but the wings. I have seen two in this 

 molt on August 15, 



The first winter plumage, which is worn until the following summer, 

 is much like that of the adult female, but much duller throughout, the 

 general color being bluish gray rather than grayish blue, with brownish 

 rather than blackish primaries and with pale-gray under parts, more 

 whitish in the anal region. Adults apparently have their postnuptial 

 molt before the middle of September, as after that date they all seem 

 to be in fresh plumage. 



Food. — The chief food of the pinyon jay, or rather its favorite food, 

 is the sweet nut of the pinyon pine (Pinus edulis), but it also eats 

 to some extent the nuts, seeds, or young tender cones of other pines, 

 particularly the yellow pine (Pinus scopulorum). Other vegetable food 

 includes various wild fruits, such as the fruits of the red cedar and 

 the boxelder, various seeds, and some grain ; these jays are said to do 

 considerable damage to grain crops, but probably most of the grain is 

 picked up as waste grain. 



The animal food consists of grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects 

 and, to some extent, the eggs and young of small birds. J. B. Dixon 

 tells me that "these birds are relentless in their search through the 

 desert scrub for other birds' nests and destroy their eggs and young 

 when found." Other observers do not seem to emphasize this habit. 



H. W. Henshaw (1875) says: "A large flock of these birds were 

 seen near Silver City, N. Mex., October, busily engaged on the ground 

 feeding upon grass seeds. Those in the rear kept flying up and 

 alighting in the front rank, the whole flock thus keeping in continual 

 motion." Near Tularosa, late in November, he saw "a large flock 

 engaged in catching insects on the wing, and in this novel occupation 

 they displayed no little dexterity. From the tops of the pine trees, they 

 ascended to a considerable height, when, hovering for an instant, they 

 would snap up an insect and return to near the former position, re- 

 main for a moment, and again make an essay." 



Mr. Cameron (1907) adds: "Like Magpies, however, they are practi- 

 cally omnivorous, and a Piiion Jay has been known to meet its fate in 

 a wolf trap by which destructive instrument so many of the former 

 have perished. Like Magpies, too, Pifion Jays come about the ranch 

 house in the hope of receiving scraps from the table, alighting but two 

 or three yards from the door, or on the hitching post where the horses 

 are tied. They are also very fond of insect food, and may be seen 

 walking about as they turn over dried cattle manure in search of 



