THE CALIFORNIA JAY... __ 31 
as well as a wag, and infinitely more interesting than a stupid parrot. Mis- 
chief is his special forte: the untying of shoe-strings, the investigation of 
cavities, the secreting of spoons, and the aimless abstraction of gold teeth 
are his unending delight. Once when the writer was shelling seed peas in 
the garden, a spoiled “‘Jackity” assayed to fill his (the man’s) ears with these 
innocent pellets; and when he discovered a rent in the knee of the man’s 
trousers, he fairly chortled, “Well; I see myself busy for a week filling that 
hole!” 
Cage life is irksome for bird or beast; but, 1f we must be amused, and, 
above all, if we feel called upon to pass adverse judgment upon this gifted 
bundle of contradictions, as he exists in a state of nature, let our harshest 
sentence be sociable confinement with occasional freedom on parole. <A bird 
in the cage is worth two in the obituary columns. 
No. 8. 
CALIFORNIA JAY. 
A. O. U. No. 481. Aphelocoma californica (Vigors). 
Description.—Adults: In general blue, changing to brownish gray on back 
(scapulars and interscapulars), whitening variously on underparts; crown, hind 
neck and sides of neck dull cobalt blue, nearly uniform; wings, tail, and upper 
tail-coverts dull azure blue; cheeks and auriculars cobalt blue and dusky; chin, 
throat, and chest, centrally, white, the last-named with admixture of blue in 
streaks, and passing into the clear blue of its sides; breast sordid gray, passing 
into dull white of remaining underparts; shorter under tail-coverts pure white, 
the longer ones tinged with pale blue; bill and feet black; iris brown. In young 
birds the blue of adults is supplanted by mouse-gray on head and lower neck, 
rump, etc., save that crown is tinged with blue; the gray of back is of a deeper 
shade; the underparts are white, save for light brownish wash across breast and 
sides. Length of adult males 11.50-12.25; wing 5.00 (127); tail 5.60 (143); 
bill r.00 (25.4) ; tarsus 1.60 (41). Females slightly smaller. 
Recognition Marks.—Robin size; blue coloration without crest; whitish 
underparts. 
Nesting.—Nest: a bed of small twigs without mud and heavily lined with 
fine dead grass; 8 inches across outside by 314 in depth—thus much smaller and 
lighter than that of the Steller Jay—placed at moderate elevation in tree or bush 
in thicket near water. Eggs: 3-6, usually 4 or 5, deep green of varying shades, 
spotted with reddish browns. Av. size, 1.11 x .82 (28.2 x 20.8). Season: first 
week in May; one brood. 
General Range.—Pacific Coast district of United States, including eastern 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range in Oregon, north to south- 
western Washington. 
