Letters, Announcements, ^c. 271 



date, is transcribed, as the original publication is not likely 

 to come under the notice of many readers of ' The Ibis/ and 

 as it is desirable that the same Journal should complete the 

 history of the species. 



''Although Maximilian's Jay is quite a common bird in 

 many parts of the west, .... its eggs have never been de- 

 scribed, though a nest containing young was found several 

 years ago by Mr. Robert Ridgway [on a low range of hills 

 east of Carson City, Nevada, late in March or early in April 

 of 1868, at which time the young were already flying, as I am 

 informed by Mr. Ridgway, who corroborates the accuracy of 

 Mr. Aiken's observations on the nidification. — E. C.]. On 

 the 12th of May, 1874, I sallied forth with the determination 

 to find, if possible, the nest of this bird. From the fact that 

 these Jays always show a preference for the piiion-clad hills, 

 it is natural to suppose that they would breed among them ; 

 and as they are at all times gregarious, I inferred that they 

 would breed in communities; and so it proved. I chose for 

 my field of search a high rocky tract of mesa country, well 

 clothed with pinon and cedar, that lies just at the point where 

 the three counties of El Paso, Pueblo, and Fremont meet, 

 and searched a whole day without success. Continuing my 

 search next day in the same vicinity, I chanced to spy in the 

 fork of a pinon tree a nest, which, as I viewed it from the 

 ground, I concluded to be the very one I was looking for; 

 and as I prepared to ascend the tree all doubts in the matter 

 were set at rest by my seeing the parent bird fly stealthily 

 away. Hastily climbing to the nest and looking eagerly into 

 it, I found, not the wished-for eggs, but a half-fledged nest- 

 ling. This was rather disappointing ; but a careful scrutiny 

 of all the trees within a circuit of fifty rods, resulted in the 

 finding of four nests, one of which repaid all my previous 

 trouble ; for it contained five eggs unknown to science. Those 

 of you who have had similar experiences can imagine my de- 

 light as I first gazed upon these treasures. 



" The eggs are of a plump oval form, and five in number. 

 The colour is a very pale greenish blue, plentifully sprinkled 

 everywhere with specks of brown and pale lilac, which con- 



