birds varied with acoriis, beechnuts, chestnuts, corn, 

 and fruite of different kinds. They are not at aill par- 

 Liciiiar when hungry, ^but will eat almost anything, and 

 have been seen pickini; up raw ixjtato jjeelings, old 

 tlried-up apples, etc. Where they are resident tiiey lay 

 up quite a -■itorc of acorns, com, and mils in various 

 jilaces for wint«r use, but where they are only eummsr 

 visitors they do not resort to this practice. In the fail 

 Ihey congregate in large flocks preparatory to their 

 migrations. They usually leave their summer homes in 

 tile latter part of September, returning again late in 

 April or early in May." 



■' Throughout the greater part of the year the Blue 

 Jay is a more or less restless, noisy, and roving bird, 

 moving in little companies from one wood to another ; 

 during the nesting season it becomes more quiet and 

 retiring, and is less often seen or heard. It prefers 

 mi.xed woods to live in, especially oak and beech woods, 

 but for nesting sites dense coniferous thickets are 

 generaJly preferred ; oaks, elms, hickories, and various 

 fruit trees, thorn bushes, ajnd shrubbery overran with 

 vinct5 are also ii.»ed, the nests being placed in various 

 situation.', sometimes in a crotch or <-lose to the main 

 trunk, or on the extremity of a horizontal limb, among 

 the outer bi-anches. They are placed at distances from 

 t ho ground varying from 5 to 50 feet, ibut usually below 

 20 ff?l. In the more southern parts of their range nest 

 liuilding begins in the latter part of ilarch, and full 

 -sets of eggs may be looked .for 'by April 15. In our 

 iliddle Stat&s it nests a couple of weeks later, and in 

 the northern portions frequently not before June. I 

 ■believe but one brood is usually reared in a season, but 

 in the south they may occasionally raise two. 



■' The nests are generally well hidden, and are rather 

 bulky but compactlv-built structures, averaging from 

 ■7 to 8 inches in outer diameter by 4 to 4^ inches in 

 depth ; the inner oup measures about 3^ to 4 inches in 

 •diameter by 2^ inches in depth. Outwardly the.v are 

 composed of small twigs (thorny ones being preferred). 

 Ijark. moss, lichens, paper, rags, strings, wool, leaves, 

 and drv grasses, the various materials being w-ell incor- 

 l>orated and sometimes cemented together with mud, 

 but not always ; the lining is usually composed exclu- 

 sively of tine rootlets. Occasionally the Blue Jay will 

 take the nest of another epecies by force. 



■■ The number of eggs to a set varies from three to 

 six : sets of four or five are most often foimd; and an 

 egg is deposited dail,v. Both sexes assist in incuba- 

 tion, which lasts from fifteen to sixteen days. The 

 young gi'ow rather .slowly, and are fed on" insects, 

 ivorms. and animal food. They often leave the nest 

 liefore tlie,y are fully feathered, and when scarcely able 

 to fl.y. At this time thev frequently betray their pre- 

 sence bv their ince.ssant clamour for food, never appear- 

 ing to get enough to satisfy their enormous appetites. 

 The parents are exceedingly devoted to them, and are 

 close sitters. Instances have been recorded where a 

 female Blue Jav allowed her head and tock to be 

 stroked while sitting on her eggs. The eggs of the 

 Blue Jay vary greatlv in their ground-colour! In some 

 thiis is olive-green, olive-buff, and pea-green; in others 

 it is plain buff colour, or again cream and vinaceous 

 iiuff. This is irregularly spott^ed and blotclied with 

 different shades of brownis and lavender, the markings 

 being generally heaviest about the larger end. A pecu- 

 liar set of three eggs in the United States Xationnl 

 Museum collection has a pale Hui.sli-gi-een frround- 

 -colour. with only a few rather large blotches of .slate 

 "rHiid lavender about the larger end. and one of these 

 ■e-ggs is almo.st unspotted. The ehell is smooth, close 

 crained, rather strong, and occasionally slightlv glossv. 

 The eggs are usually ovate in shape. 



" The average measurements of one hundred and thirty. 

 five eggs in the United States National Museum collec- 

 tion is 28.02 by 20.44 millimetres, or about 1.10 bv 

 0.81 inches." 



The London Zoological Society purdhased its first 

 e.xample of this bird in July, 1855, since which time 

 many other specimens have been exhibited in the 

 Regent's Park Gardens, and Russ sjieake of it as almost 

 ;ilwa,vs to ibe met with in Zoological Gardens, though on 

 account of its high price he says it is rarely to be found 

 in 'private collections. In England it has been occa- 

 sionally exhibited. 



Crowned J.4.Y (Oyanocitta coronala). 



Back and scapulars above purplish grey or dull ultra- 

 marine ; lower back and rump azure blue, which becomes 

 still brighter blue on the upper tail-coverts ; wings ultra- 

 marine ; inner secondaries brighter and barred with 

 hiack ; greater wing-coverts also indistinctly barred ; 

 tail ultramarine, the inner webs purple-brownish ; head 

 and throat dead black, the whole crest dull cobalt or 

 ultramarine blue ; the plumes on forehead whitish : chin 

 and throat greyish white ; rest of under surface tur- 

 quoise blue, more pui-plish on ibreast ; thighs and under 

 wing-coverts greyish hlack washed w-ith blue ; bill and 

 feet 'black. Female smaller than male. Hab., High- 

 lands of Mexico. 



Professor Ridgway regards this and the following as 

 sub-species of Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri], but Ur. 

 Sharpe keeps them separate. 



I have found no notes on the wild life of this bird, 

 but they probabl.v woidd not differ greatly from those 

 of other species in the genus. 



The London Zoological Gardens secured two specimens 

 of the Crowned Jay in May, 1890. 



I.ONG-CRESTED J.\Y {Oi/anociUa dkuhmata). 



Above greenish blue, more azure on rump and upper 

 taill-coverts ; wings and tail deeper blue, more inclining 

 to ultramarine ; the primaries externall.v somewhat 

 greenish ; the secondaries bright cobalt blue ; greater 

 wing-coverts, inner secondaries and tail-feathers dis- 

 tinctly barred with black ; crown and crest ultramarine 

 blue ; the forehead silvery azure passing into bright 

 azure on the fr'ont of the croini ; nasal bristles and 

 sides of face black ; cheeks and ear-coverts washed with 

 blue ; a white spot above the eye and a smaller one 

 below it ; chin gi'eyish white ; rest of under surface 

 p.ale turquoise, more purplish on throat and chest ; 

 thighs purplish; under wing-coverts greyish black 

 washed with blue ; bOl and feet black. Female smaller 

 than male. Hab., Mexico and Western United States. 



J. G. Cooijer says that the habits of this species are 

 much like tho.se of C. stelleri, respecting which he savs 

 (" Oi-nithdogy of California," Vol. I., p. 299) :— " 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 in.sects, eggs, and any 

 animal food thev can get. They even eat potatoes in 

 winter, and reeort to the shores for dead fish. They 

 are verv noisy birds, having a variety of harsli notes 

 and a considerable talent for mimicry. They are sorae- 

 tiniies very bold and prying, at others very cautious and 

 suspicious, soon learning the effect of a gim, and show- 

 ing much sagacitv in their movements. 



" Their nests are built usually in evergreens at various 

 heights, large, and composed of twigs and roots, with 

 a laver of mud and a lining of root-fibres. The eggs, 

 ailx)ut four, are pale green, with small olive-brown 

 specks, and' others inclining to violet. (N'uttall.) 



