CORVID^ — THE CROWS — CYANURA. 



299 



Back and lesser wing coverts blackish-brown, the scapulars glossed with blue. Under 

 jiarts, rump, tail coverts, and wing, greenish-blue ; exj)Osed surfaces of lesser quills dark 

 indigo-blue ; tertials and ends of tail feathers rather obsoletely banded with black. 



Feathers of the forehead streaked with greenish-blue. Length, about 12.50; extent, 

 18.00; wing, G.OO. 



Hub. Pacific Coast of North America, to the Xorthern Rocky Mountains. 



These birds are numerous in the mountains of California, inhabiting the 

 whole length of the Sierra Nevada, and the Coast Eange as ftir south as 

 Santa Cruz at least. They show a decided preference for the coniferous 

 forests, rarely going far from them, but sometimes in winter frequenting 

 those of oak. Their food consists of seeds of the pines and spruces, berries, 

 and acorns, which they crack before eating, besides insects, eggs, and any 

 animal food they can get. They even eat potatoes in winter, and resort to 

 the shores for dead fish. They are very noisy birds, having a variety of 

 harsh notes, and a consideralile talent for mimicry. They are sometimes 

 \evj bold and prying, at others very cautious and suspicious, soon learning 

 the effect of the gun, and showing much sagacity in their movements. 



Their nests are built usually in evergreens at various heights, large, and 

 composed of twigs and roots, with a layer of mud and a lining of root-fibres. 

 The eggs, about four, are pale green, with small oli\"e-brown specks, and 

 others inclining to violet. (Nuttall.) 



They lay in May near the Columbia Eiver, and probably a month earlier 

 in some parts of this State. 



According to J. K. Lord, this species builds a nest amidst the thick foli- 

 age of a young pine-tree, of moss, small twigs, lichen, and fir leaves, lined 

 with deer hair, in which are laid about seven bluish-green eggs. The num- 

 ber he gives of the eggs of several birds near the 49th parallel is so much 



