Pacific Coast Jays 



By. F. E. L. Beal 



In California and adjacent States two species of jays are much in evidence 

 under several more or less well-marked forms. 



The Stellar jay much resembles the eastern bird, but it is more shy and 

 retiring and seldom visits the orchard or vicinity of the ranch buildings. Stomach 

 examination shows that its food does not radically differ from that of the eastern 

 blue jay. As is the case with that bird, a very considerable part of the food 

 consists of mast, together with a little fruit and some insects. The insects are 

 largely wasps, with some beetles and grasshoppers. The jay also eats some grain, 

 which is probably waste or volunteer. No complaints, so far as known, are made 

 against this bird. Until it shall become less wary it is not likely to trespass to a 

 serious extent upon the farmer's preserve. 



The California jay, although of a different genus, more nearly resembles its 

 eastern relative in food habits and actions. It freely visits the stockyards near 

 ranch buildings, and orchards and gardens. As a fruit stealer it is notorious. 

 One instance is recorded where seven jays were shot from a prune tree, one after 

 the other, the dead bodies being left under the tree until all were killed. So eager 

 were the birds to get the fruit that the report of the gun and the sight of their 

 dead did not deter them from coming to the tree. In orchards, in canyons or on 

 hillsides adjacent to chaparral or other great mischief is done by this bird. 

 In one such case an orchard was under observation at a time when the prune 

 crop was ripening, and jays in a continuous stream were seen to come down a 

 small ravine to the orchard, prey upon the fruit, and return. 



Fruit stealing, however, is only one of the sins of the California jay. That 

 it robs hens' nests is universal testimony. A case is reported of a hen having 

 a nest under a clump of bushes; every day a jay came to a tree a few rods away, 

 and when it heard the cackle of the hen announcing a new egg it flew at once to 

 the nest. At the same time the mistress of the house hastened to the spot to 

 secure the prize, but in most cases the jay won the race. This is only one of 

 many similar cases recounted. The jays have learned just what the cackle of 

 the hen means. Another case more serious is that related by a man engaged 

 in raising white leghorn fowls on a ranch several miles up a canyon. He stated 

 that when the chicks were very young the jays attacked and killed them by a few 

 blows of the beak and then pecked open the skull and ate out the brains. In spite 

 of all efforts to protect the chicks and kill the jays the losses in this way were 

 serious. 



Examination of the stomachs of 326 California jays shows that 27 per cent 

 of the contents for the year consists of animal matter and 73 per cent of vege- 

 table. Although the great bulk of the animal food is made up of insects, the 

 remains of eggshells and birds' bones appear much too often. The insect food 

 is fairly well distributed among the more common orders, but grasshoppers are 



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