148 THE OREGON 
EASTERN DEPARTMENT. 
CONDUCTED BY THE ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
THE FLORIDA BLUE JAY. 
This is about the most vociferous bird in the 
South, though for beauty and mental capacity, 
there is no bird which excels. If the readers 
of this article will peruse ‘‘ Mark Twain’s” dis- 
cussion of the Jay, they will get the exact dis- 
cription and excentricities of the bird, While 
this article does not apply particularly to the 
Florida Jay, it fits this bird exactly. 
the Jay begins nidification about March 28 
and continues through April, May, June, rarely 
July and in one instance in August. 
"The sets range from three to five. Four be- 
ing the common number, though three and five 
are often found. I have noticed that the sets 
of five are generally taken, out of town. 
Jays choose the country fora home. I suppose 
on account of the scarcity of food. 
Tallahassee abounds in Jays, there being plenty 
of food and other necessities for making him 
They seem to prefer oaks for a nesting 
Few 
The city of 
happy. 
site and as there are plenty in the town many 
nests are found. In our city ceme‘ery the Jays 
seem to be more plentiful than at any other 
place. 
The nests are very substantially constructed, 
being composed of dry sticks, cloth, string, paper, 
and mud which is brought from some neigh- 
boring stream and placed as the foundation, so 
that when dry it holds the nest very tight on the 
Imb, then it is alwayslined with tiny rootlets 
which the bird pulls from the larger roots of 
oaks or any other tree which has the required 
material. There was a nest in a crape—myrtle 
tree about ten feet from my window which wag 
finished on March 15, I took daily inspection of 
it and finally came to the conclusion that the 
pair had abandoned it, but on April 19 it con- 
tained one egg. The Jay finished nidification 
and five little birds met my gaze some days later, 
There was a nest in my back yard, about 25 
feet up in a cedar, which had eluded my per-- 
NATURALIST. 
ception for some time; my attention was at- 
tracted by a strip of cloth, which had served as 
a kive-tail for some small boys in the neighbor- 
hood. This strip was hanging down about 
three feet and about one foot was woven into 
the nest. The result of a climb and a pillage 
was four handsomely marked eggs. 
R. W. WILLIAMS, JR. 
Tallahasse, Fla. 
WINTER BIRD LIFE IN SOUTHERN 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
C. C. PuRDUM. 
Continued from page 132. 
(60) Larus Philadelphia. (675) 
BONAPARTE’S GULL. 
This variety is generally quite abundant in 
fall and winter when they may be seen in all of 
our small inlets and harbors, congreg ited into 
small fiocks, and hovering above the schools of 
small fishes which constitute their food. I have 
seen them in the interior many miles from salt 
water, flying low over ploughed land, doubtless 
jn search of worms. I have never seen them 
take a worm however, and I think that the idea 
of food being taken from the grouud to supply 
their needs, lacks confirmation; for it is hardly 
likely that a bird which nacurally derives its food 
supply from fish, could depart from it in its en- 
tirety and devote itselfto vermes. As observed 
here the plumage may best be described as fol- 
lows: Bill light at base, dark at tip: Feet flesh 
color: Crown and occiput washed with grayish- 
black. The whole under parts are white as 
are the throat, sides of the head and forehead. 
The mantle is pale blue, perhaps approaching 
The neck and the under 
wing coverts and the whole upper parts are light. 
The f rst six primaries are entirely white except 
at the extreme tip, The outer primaries are like 
the back, The seventh, eighth, : nd ninth, with 
spots of black near the tip: as is not the case 
with either of our other species, 
a shade of pearl. 
The first wing 
coverts, bastard quills, etc., are wholly white, 
The female differs in no respect from the male 
