278 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



notes, and seems to have one for every emotion or pursuit in which it 

 is engaged. It also has a great fondness for imitating the notes of other 

 birds. Dr. Suckley states that frequently when pleasantly excited by the 

 hope of obtaining a rare bird, in consequence of hearing an unknown note 

 issuing from some clump of bushes or thicket, he has been not a little dis- 

 appointed by finding that it had issued from this Jay. It mimics accurately 

 the principal cry of the Catbird. 



Dr. Cooper also found it very common in all the forests on both sides of 

 the Cascade Mountains. While it seemed to depend chiefly npon the forest 

 for its food, in the winter it would make visits to the vicinity of houses, and 

 steal anything eatable it could find within its reach, even potatoes. In 

 these forages upon the gardens and farm-yards, they are both silent and 

 watchful, evidently conscious of the peril of their undertaking, and when 

 discovered they instantly fly off to the concealment of the forests. They 

 also make visits to the Indian lodges when the owners are absent, and force 

 their way into them if possible, one of their number keeping watch. In the 

 forest they do not appear to be shy or timid, but boldly follow those who 

 intrude upon their domain, screaming, and calling their companions around 

 them. Hazel-nuts are one of their great articles of winter food ; and Dr. 

 Cooper states that, in order to break the shell, the Jay resorts to the in- 

 genious expedient of taking them to a branch of a tree, fixing them in a 

 crotch or cavity, and hammering them with its bill until it can reach the 

 meat within. Their nest he describes as large, loosely built of sticks, and 

 placed in a bush or low tree. 



At certain seasons of the year its food consisted almost entirely of the 

 seeds of the pine, particularly of P. hrachyptcra, which Dr. Newberry states he 

 has often seen them extracting from the cones, and with which the stomachs 

 of those he killed were usually filled. He found these birds ranging as far 

 north as the line of the British Territory, and from the coast to the Kocky 

 Mountains. 



In his Western journey Mr. Nuttall met with these birds in the Blue Moun- 

 tains of the Oregon, east of WaHa-walla. There he found them scarce and 

 shy. Afterwards he found them abundant in tlie pine forests of the Columbia, 

 where their loud trumpeting clangor was heard at all hours of the day, calling- 

 out with a loud voice, djay-djay, or chattering \\\i\\ a variety of other notes, 

 some of them similar to those of the common Blue Jay. They are more 

 bold and familiar than our Jay. Watchful as a dog, no sooner does a 

 stranger show himself in their vicinity than they neglect all other employ- 

 ment to come round him, following and sometimes scolding at him with great 

 pertinacity and signs of irritability. At other times, stimulated by curiosity, 

 they follow for a while in perfect silence, until something seems to arouse 

 their ire, and then their vociferous cries are poured out with unceasing volu- 

 bility till the intruder has passed from their view. 



In the month of May, Mr. Nuttall found a nest of these birds in a small 



