220 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



coverts usually with narrow bars of black ; secondaries, 

 deep cobalt or dull ultramarine-blue ; tail, dull cobalt- 

 blue, with terminal portion usually distinctly barred with 

 black ; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually located in firs, 

 sometimes in other trees and bushes from lo to 50 feet 

 up; constructed of large sticks, moss, grass, cemented 

 with mud and lined with fine dried grasses and hair — 



a bulky, substantial structure. Eggs : 3 to 5, pale 

 bluish-green, spotted and blotched all over with olive- 

 brown and lavender. 



Distribution. — Coniferous forests of northern Pacific 

 Coast district, from shores of Puget Sound northward 

 to eastern shores of Cook Inlet, including Vancouver 

 Island and other coast islands, e.xcept Prince of Wales 

 Island and the Queen Charlotte group. 



This is another handsome member of a hand- 

 some family, but, alas, like his conspicuous and 

 noisy eastern cousin, the Blue Jay, his habits and 

 manners serve to warn us again that " handsome 

 is as handsome does." For his fine clothes cannot 



Drawing by R. Bruce Horsfal! 



STELLER'S JAY (5 nat. size) 



conceal from those who know him the fact that 

 he is a nest-robber and a cannibal as well. 



Chack-ah, Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey says 

 he squalls, as he flirts his tail and dashes about 

 throtigh the woods; and, ctiriously enough, like 

 the Blue Jay, he has a sort of whistled scream 

 which is singularly like that of the Red-shouldered 



Hawk. Whether, in either case, this is more 

 than a coincidence, it is impossible to determine, 

 though many who know how Jays act will assert 

 their beHef that the imitation is deliberate, and 

 is intended to frighten the other birds. 



The fine crest of the Steller's Jay is not always 

 visible when the bird is flying ; but, as a keen- 

 eyed youthful friend of Mrs. Bailey remarked, 

 " when they holler they stick that right straight 

 up," a description which Ruskin himself couldn't 

 have improved upon. 



As happens with many of the birds, there are 

 several slightly varying local forms of Steller's 

 Jay in the Rocky Mountain section of the 

 United States and Canada. These are known 

 as the Blue-fronted Jay or Sierra Nevada Jay 

 (Cyanocitta stclleri frontalis), the Long-crested 

 Jay {Cvanocitta stelleri diademata) , the Black- 

 headed Jay (Cyanocitta stclleri anncctcns), the 

 Queen Charlotte Jay or Osgood's Jay [Cyano- 

 citta stclleri carlottce) and the Coast Jay or Grin- 

 nell's Jay {Cyanocitta stclleri carbonacea). Two 

 other geographical forms are fotind in Mexico — 

 the Aztec Jay and the Blue-crested Jay. 



These birds are more shy and retiring than 

 the Blue Jay of the eastern States and seldom 

 visit the orchard or the vicinity of the ranch 

 buildings. The results of stomach examinations 

 show but little variance from those of Blue Jays. 

 A very considerable portion of their food consists 

 of acorns, chestntits, beechnuts, and the like, 

 together with a little fruit and some insects. The 

 insects are largely wasps and some beetles and 

 grasshoppers. The grain consumed by the 

 Steller's Jay and its kin is probably waste or 

 volunteer. In the 93 stomachs available for the 

 laboratory investigations of the Biological Sur- 

 vey, 13 were found to contain remains of egg- 

 shells. This is the worst item in this Jay's record, 

 since it indicates that the bird is guilty of eating 

 the eggs of smaller birds; but even this is not as 

 bad as it looks. Only 6 of these egg-eating 

 records occurred in June, the nesting month. 



