PINYON JAY 309 



These fall flocks sometimes indulge in interesting flight maneuvers ; 

 Henshaw (1875) quotes C. E. Aiken as follows: "At Fort Garland, 

 Colo., in October, 1874, I saw probably a hundred of these birds in a 

 dense, rounded mass, performing evolutions high in the air, which I 

 have never before known them to do; sweeping in wide circles, shoot- 

 ing straight ahead, and wildly diving and whirling about, in precisely 

 the same manner that our common wild pigeons do when pursued by a 

 hawk. This singular performance, with intervals of rest in the pinons 

 behind the fort, was kept up for about two hours, apparently for no 

 other purpose than exercise." 



Laurence B. Potter tells me that he had an excellent sight record of 

 a piny on jay, at short range, at Eastend, Saskatchewan, on September 

 16, 1910. 



Winter. — At least some piny on jays spend the winter as far north as 

 Montana, where, according to Mr. Cameron (1907), "in midwinter, 

 Pifion Jays seek deep ravines and love to sun themselves either on a 

 bank or in the branches of low cedars which grow there. When thus 

 sheltered these noisy, restless birds will sit motionless for some time 

 without calling to each other. At this season their food seems to consist 

 entirely of c.edar berries." 



At the other end of the line, in Brewster County, Tex., Van Tyne and 

 Sutton (1937) say that "they are a characteristic species of the region 

 in winter, but are practically never seen in summer." In intermediate 

 regions throughout their range they are locally abundant or scarce ac- 

 cording to where they can find their necessary food supply, traveling 

 about in flocks, often considerably beyond the limits of their summer 

 range. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Mountainous regions of the Western United States; not 

 regularly migratory. 



The range of the pinyon jay extends north to central Oregon (Grand- 

 view) ; Montana (probably Missoula, Pompeys Pillars, and Terry) ; 

 and South Dakota (Rapid City). East to western South Dakota 

 (Rapid City and Elk Mountains) ; Colorado (near Fort Lyon) ; western 

 Oklahoma (Kenton) ; eastern New Mexico (Mesa Pajarito and Santa 

 Rosa) ; and western Texas (Guadalupe Mountains). South to south- 

 western Texas (Guadalupe Mountains) ; southern New Mexico (San 

 Luis Pass) ; and northern Baja California (San Pedro Martir Moun- 

 tains). West to Baja California (San Pedro Martir Mountains, Valle- 

 citos, and Campo) ; eastern California (San Bernardino Mountains, 

 Argus Mountains, Inyo Mountains, and White Mountains) ; western 

 Nevada (Carson) ; and central Oregon (Bend and Grandview). 



667497—46—21 



