NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 75 



one found in 1880." The birds "go in flocks of from five to twenty, and 

 are generally seen in the foot-hills." " Hab. Arizona. 



296. Green Jay — xanthura luxuosa. Greenish-drab, marked with 

 dark olive-brown and lighter cloudings of purplish-brown ; usually three or 

 four in number; size i.io by .80. This handsome, noisy species, known 

 as the Rio Grande Jay, is abundant in some localities in the Lower Rio 

 Grande Valley. Dr. Merrill found it to be a common resident in the vi- 

 cinity of Fort Brown, Texas. The nest is placed in bushes and small 

 trees; it is a bulky structure, and composed of twigs, with a finer lining. 



297. Canada Jay — perisoreus canadensis. Light gray, with a yel- 

 lowish tinge, finely marked more abundantly at the larger end with dots 

 and blotches of slate color and brown, with faint cloudings of an obscure 

 lilac, with the usual variations in color and size found in the eggs of other 

 Jays; four or five in number; size 1.17 by .80. The Mouse-Bird, Whisky 

 Jack, or Whisky John, as it is variously called, breeds in Maine and north- 

 ward ; it is resident, and seldom seen south of its breeding range. The 

 nest is usually placed on the bough of a spruce or other evergreen ; it 

 is a large, substantial structure, made of twigs, grasses, and is lined with 



feathers. Hab. Arctic America into the Northern States; northwest to Alaska. 



2d7a. White-headed Jay — perisoreus canadensis capitalis. Grayish- 

 white marked with dots and blotches of slate and brown. The markings 

 are larger, more confluent, and not so distinct as in the eggs of the Canada 

 Jay. The nesting habits are the same as those of variety canadensis. This 

 Jay, P. c. capitalis, is the form of the Rocky Mountain region, especially 

 Colorado, Wyoming, North New Mexico, and Arizona, Idaho and Mon- 

 tana, northward, running into the typical canadensis. 



•300. Shore Lark — eremophila alpestris. Light drab, thickly and 

 uniformly spotted with various shades of brown ; the eggs, in general ap- 

 pearance, reminds one of those of the Shrike's, on a small scale, but are 

 probably more variable in tone; they are four or five in number, and mea- 

 sure about .90 by .65. In most of the United States east of the Missis- 

 sippi this bird is only a winter visitant. It breeds in the northern tier of 

 States northward as far east as New York, and very abundantly in Labrador 

 and Newfoundland. It is chiefly replaced in the West by the two follow- 

 ing varieties. Horned Lark is another name for it. The nest will be 

 found on the ground in a slight depression, lined with a few grasses. 



Hab. Northern Hemisphere; in the Eastern United States; south in winter to South Carolina. 



300^:. White-throated Shore Lark — eremophila alpestris leucol^ma. 

 Eggs and nesting habits same as alpestris, and found in the prairies of West- 



