CROWS, JAYS, ETC. 255 



nal to his companions, breakfasting in a near-by oak or chestnut, 

 "■ Here, here, here's some fun ! " and the poor, blinking Owl he has 

 discovered looks helplessly at the blue-coated mob, whose uproar alone 

 is terrifying. Suddenly there is absolute silence ; every Jay has dis- 

 appeared. Some one of them has seen you, and not until your silence 

 reassures the band will fhey return to the sport of teasing their victim. 

 The Blue Jay is both a mimic and a ventriloquist. Besides an in- 

 exhaustible stock of whistles and calls of his own, he imitates the notes 

 of other species, notably those of the Red-shouldered, Red-tail, and 

 Sparrow Hawks. 



477a. C C. florincola Coues. Florida Blue Jay.— Similar to tlie 

 preceding species, but snmller, the upper parts somewhat grayer, the white 

 tips to the feathers narrower, those on the outer pair of tail-feathers generally 

 less than I'OO in width. L., 10-75 ; W., 5-15 ; T., 4-80 ; B., -96. 



Range. — Florida and Gulf coast region to Texas. 



Blue Jays in Florida are much more familiar than our Jays at the 

 north. They are common inhabitants of towns with live-oaks, and 

 hop about the fences and gardens with all the domesticity of the 

 Robins on our lawns. It has always seemed to me that the Florida 

 birds were possessed of greater vocabularies than their northern 

 brethren. 



The Magpie [475. Pica pica hudsonica) inliabits western North America* 

 stragglers have been recorded from as far east as Montreal and Illinois. 



479. Aphelocoma floridana {Bartr.). Florida Jay. .4(^.— Top 

 and sides of the head and neck, wings and tail, grayish blue ; back pale 

 brownish gray ; under parts dirty white, obscurely streaked on the throat and 

 breast; sides of the breast and faint breast-band grayish blue. L., 11-50; 

 W., 4-45 ; T., 5-40 ; B., -98. 



Range. — Florida; of local distribution, chiefly along the coasts, between 

 lat. 27° and 30°. 



Nest., of sticks and roots lined with weeds and rootlets, in bushes. Eggs.^ 

 four, olive-green spotted and blotched with black, 1-17 x -75 (Maynard). 



" The Florida Jays are noisy birds at all times, and the first inti- 

 mation which one receives of their presence is a harsh scream which is 

 given as a note of alarm. As they usually move in flocks, this cry is 

 taken up by others, and soon the scrub for many rods around will be 

 resounding with these peculiar sounds. When undisturbed they feed 

 on the ground or in bushes, but, upon the approach of an intruder, 

 they will mount the highest point available, where they remain until 

 driven away. They are not usually shy, and will allow one to ap- 

 proach them quite closely, but when one or two are shot the survivors 

 usually disappear. . . . They will glide through the bushes with re- 

 markable rapidity, never once showing themselves, or, if they have an 



