62 EGG CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
that the nest is usually of a bright straw color. The eggs vary somewhat 
in shape, some being obtuse and more spherical, others more pointed and 
oblong. They have a beautiful white ground, marbled, blotched and 
dotted with large dashes and irregular zigzag lines of purple, brown and 
black, chiefly at the larger end. A complement of four typical eggs, col- 
lected by Prof. Evermann near Santa Paula, Cal., April 13, 1881, measure 
as follows: .94 by .66, .94 by .64, .92 by .63, .89 by .63. 
286. Pica rustica Hudsonica. 
Black-billed Magpie. 
The American Magpie has an extended western distribution from 
Arizona on the south to Alaska on the northwest, and. is found from the 
Missouri River to the Pacific coast. It is common throughout the central 
region of Oregonand Washington Territory. Breeds abundantly in Color-' 
ado. Begins building in April. The nest is an elaborate affair placed in the 
fork of a small, bushy tree, and it is said, never a pine, from six to fifteen 
feet from the ground, composed externally of sticks ingeniously wedged 
together. Upon thisisa layer of clay one-half or three-quarters of an inch in 
thickness, which, being applied soft and well worked in, becomes very hard, 
and binds the structure firmly together. It is lined with hair feathers, 
etc. Rising from the walls of the nest is a dome of twigs and sticks very 
ingeniously and securely woven together, with a hole in one side forming ~ 
a shelter for the bird while setting. There are, sometimes, two openings 
opposite each other, evidently to make reom for the long tail of the bird. 
The eggs, according to some authors, vary from five to nine in number. 
Their ground-color is a grayish-white, or light gray with a yellowish tinge 
spotted with blotches, dottings and dashes of purplish or violet-brown. 
287. Pica Nuttall. 
Yellow-billed Magpie. 
Confined exclusively to California; breeds abundantly, and begins 
nesting about the first of April. Nest constructed similar to that of the 
preceding species. The eggs have a ground-color of light drab so thickly 
marked with fine cloudings of an obscure lavender color as nearly to con- 
ceal the ground, and to give the eggs the appearance of an almost violet- 
brown. A set of six eggs in my collection, collected in Wheeler Canon, 
near Santa Paula, Cal., exhibit the following measurements: 1.31 by .89, 
1.28 by .89; 1.31 by,.89, 1.32 by .86," 1.30: bys. aoe1.26 Dyn.90: 
293. <Aphelocoma Caltfornica. 
California Jay. 
The California Jay is a Pacific Coast species, occurring from the Col- 
