Ey a) ‘THE STELLER JAY. 
Nesting.—Nest: a bulky mass of fine twigs thickly plastered centrally with 
mud and lined with fine rootlets, placed 6-30 feet high in evergreen tree of thicket, 
or near edge of clearing. Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, pale bluish green, uniformly but 
moderately spotted with olive brown and pale rufous and with numerous “shell- 
markings” of lavender. Av. size, 1.23 x .gO (31.2 x 22.8). Season: April 20- 
May 10; one brood. 
General Range.—North Pacific Coast district from Gray’s Harbor and 
Puget Sound north to Cook’s Inlet, except Prince of Wales Island and the Queen 
Charlotte group (where displaced by C. s. carlotte). 
Range in Washington.—Entire western portion from summit of Cascades, 
shading into C. s. carbonacea along north bank of the Columbia. Resident. 
Authorities — ? Cyanura stellers Swains., Orn. Com., Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. 
Phila. VII. 1837, 193. Cyanocitta stelleri, Newberry, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. VI. 
EMS TS, foe lgg Wa (CaS Woe IRI, eis Sie 18}, 18, 
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. E. B. BN. 
MISCHIEF and the ‘“‘Blue Jay” are synonymous. Alert, restless, saucy, 
inquisitive, and provoking, yet always interesting, this handsome brigand 
keeps his human critics in a perpetual see-saw between wrath and admiration. 
As a sprightly piece of Nature, the Steller Jay is an unqualified success. As 
the hero-subject of a guessing contest he is without a peer, for one never knows 
what he is doing until he has done it, and none may predict what he will do 
next. 
The pioneers are especially bitter against him, and they are unanimous in 
accusing the bird of malicious destructiveness in the gardens, which are dearer 
than the apple of the eye during the first years of wilderness life. The birds 
will eat anything, and so, tiring of bugs and slugs, are not averse to trying 
corn, cabbage leaves, or, best of all, potatoes. They have observed the tedious 
operation of the gardener in planting, and know precisely where the coveted 
tubers lie. Bright and early the following morning they slip to the edge of the 
clearing, post one of their number as lookout, then silently deploy upon their 
ghoulish task. If they weary of potatoes, sprouting peas or corn will do. Or 
perhaps there may be something interesting at the base of this young tomato 
plant. And when the irate farmer appears upon the scene, the marauders retire 
to the forest shrieking with laughter at the discomfitted swain. Ay! there’s 
the rub! We may endure injury but not insult. Bang! Bang! 
As a connoisseur of birds’ eggs, too, the Steller Jay enjoys a bad 
eminence. ‘The sufferers in this case are chiefly the lesser song birds; but no 
eggs whatever are exempt from his covetous glance, if left unguarded. The 
Jay has become especially proficient in the discovery and sacking of Bush-tits’ 
nests. Mr. D. E. Brown assures me that he has found as high as fifteen nests 
of this bird in a single swamp, all gutted by Jays. When it is remembered 
that these busy little workers make one of the handsomest nests in the world, 
the shame of this piracy gets upon the nerves. The investigation of Tits’ 
nests has something of the fascination of the gaming table for the Jay, since 
