390 LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



branches of pine, inclosing a closely impacted innei* nest, composed of strongly 

 blended materials, stems of grasses, hempen fibers of plants, bark, down, 

 feathers, etc. The walls of the nest are 2 inches thick, and the inner nest is 

 warm and soft. 



"The measurements of the eggs before nie are 1.19 by 0.86, I.IG by 0.8G, 

 and 1.10 by 0.86 inches, (or 30.22 by 21.84, 29.46 by 21.84, and 27.94 by 21.84 

 millimetres). Their ground coL ir is a grayish white. In two the markings are 

 all grouped around the larger end, the residue of the surface being iiearly 

 unmarked. In one the markings are well distributed over the entire egg, 

 but larger and confluent at the rounded end. The markings are larger, more 

 confluent, and not so distinct and separate as in the eggs of Perisoreus 

 canadensis, and are of a distinct shade of brown. While there is an absence 

 of slate and lilac, and while the markings are all of one color, there is a tinge 

 of purple shading them all, and the blotches vary greatly, in the depth and 

 intensity of the shading, from very light to a very deep color. The parent 

 accompanying the nest and eggs is a female."^ 



These eggs are now in the museum at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I 

 have had the op})ortunity of examining them. As as they do not materially 

 differ from those of the preceding S2)ecies, and as they are in a poor state of 

 preservation, I have not figured any. 



156. Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons Ridgway. 



ALASKAN JAY. 



Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons Ridciway, Proceedings TJ. S. National ]\Tnseum, III, March 

 27 1880 5 



(B — , G — , E 297?», C .300, U 484ft.) 



Geographical, range: Alaska, excepting the soutliem coast districts. 



This subspecies is a resident and breeds wherever found. According to My. 

 L. M. Turner, the Alaskan or Smoky-fronted Jay is known as the "Sojah" to 

 the Russian-speaking element of Alaska; he writes: "It rarely occurs in the 

 vicinity of St. Michaels. Two specimens were obtained at the Redoubt during 

 my three and a half years' stay there. Along the Yukon River it is abundant 

 and a permanent resident. The most of my specimens were obtained from Fort 

 Yukon, Nulato, and Anvick, on the Yukon River."" 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, in speaking of the geographical range of the Alaskan Jay, 

 says: "Many speciuiens from the Upper Yukon are nearly typical Perisoreus 

 canadensis, but the })resent form gradually replaced it lower down this stream 

 until, near Nulato to the coast, birds approaching the canadensis style are almost 

 unknown. The present form is the only /Vr/.so/Y'M.s' found throughout \\\o Sitkan 

 and Kadiak region, thence north along the region bordering the Bering Sea 

 coast, and iip the wooded interior. 



1 Bulletin of the Nnttall Ornithological Clnb, Vol. IV, 1879, pp. 239, 240. 

 2 Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska, No. II, 1880, p. 167. 



