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BIRDS OF AMERICA 



ARIZONA JAY 

 Aphelocoma sieberi arizonae (Ridgzvay) 



A. O. U. Number 482 



General Description. — Length, 12' 2 inches. Head 

 and tail, blue ; body, gray. Wings, longer than tail ; 

 head, not crested. 



Color. — Above, including sides of head and neck, light 

 dull cerulean-blue ; back and shoulders, usually distinctly 

 gray (deep ash-gray to bluish-gray, rarely grayish- 

 blue) ; chin and upper throat, very pale dull bluish- 

 gray or grayish-white, this grayish-virhite deepening 

 gradually into smoke-gray on chest, breast, and sides, 

 and this fading into paler gray on flanks and abdomen ; 



the lower portion of the abdomen, the anal region, 

 and under tail-coverts, white. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Located in oaks from 12 

 to 30 feet up ; a flat saucer-shaped, flimsy structure, 

 of small sticks and twigs, evenly laid in circles, sup- 

 porting a woven interior of rootlets, usually unlined 

 otherwise. Eggs: 3 to 7, plain robin-blue. 



Distribution. — Southern Arizona, southwestern 

 New Mexico, and northern parts of Sonora and 

 Chihuahua. 



" Noisy, fussy, and quarrelsome as all Jays are, 

 I know of no other species which possesses to 

 such an eminent degree the quality of prying into 

 all manner of things which do not concern it, and 

 of making such a nuisance of itself in general, 

 on the slightest provocation or on none at all, as 

 the Arizona Jay does," is the amiable and invit- 

 ing character given this bird by a western ob- 

 server, Harry S. Swarth. Like the eastern Jay, 

 this species takes particular delight in badgering 

 a Hawk of any kind. Such a bird, whether it 

 happens to be a Cooper, which is a real and 

 dangerous enemy of all small birds, or a Red- 

 tailed or a Red-shouldered, which are compara- 

 tively harmless in the feathered world, a flock of 

 these Jays will follow a long way (if their vic- 

 tim be moving by short flights through the 

 woods), staying at a safe distance, but keeping 

 up an incessant chorus of abuse, threats, and 

 imprecations. 



A fox discovered sunning himself on a 

 bowlder or a log, is cordially mobbed as long 

 as the Jays can keep him in sight, and they 

 will follow and curse even a rattlesnake, often 

 lighting near it on the ground and strutting in a 

 ludicrous manner, with the head and body held 

 stiffly upright and about a third of the tail drag- 

 ging- 



This Jay seems to be naturally a very timid 

 bird, but its curiosity is usually greater than its 

 caution, for it may often be attracted to close 

 quarters by a hissing or squeaking noise, if the 

 cause of it remains hidden. Another peculiarity 

 which will often aid in identifying the bird, even 

 when it is not seen, is the singular fluttering 

 sound made by its wings when it is in flight. 



The bulk of the food taken by the Arizona Jay 

 is acorns, but wild fruit and seeds, grasshoppers 

 and other insects are also consumed in fair 

 amounts. 



GREEN JAY 



Xanthoura luxuosa glaucescens {Ridgzvay) 



A. O. U. Number 483 



Other Name. — Rio Grande Green Jay. 



General Description. — Length, 11 inches. Upper 

 parts, blue-green ; under parts, pale green. Wing, 

 short and rounded ; head, not crested. 



Color. — Nasal tufts, broad cheek patch (extending 

 up to and involving posterior half of lower eye- 

 lid), crown, back of head, and hindneck, blue; forehead 

 white, or yellowish white ; chin, throat, chest, ear 



region, black ; back, shoulders, rump, upper tail-coverts 

 and wings plain yellowish-green or sage-green, usually 

 glossed (often extensively) with blue; the wings 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts, rather lighter or brighter 

 than back; four middle tail-feathers duller or darker 

 green, becoming more bluish-green terminally: four 

 lateral tail-featliers pale yellow ; under parts, posterior 

 to chest, including under tail-coverts, pale green often 



