iit THE OREGON JAY. 
No. 13. 
OREGON JAY. 
A. O. U. No. 485. Perisoreus obscurus (Ridgway). 
Synonyms.—Camp Rogper. Meat Birp. Deer HunvTeEr. 
Description.—Adults: In general upperparts deep brownish gray; under- 
parts white tinged with brownish; forehead and nasal plumuies most nearly clear 
white; chin, throat, cheeks, auriculars, and obscure band around neck white 
more or less tinged with brownish; crown and nape sooty brown, nearly black; 
feathers of back with white shafts more or less exposed ; wings and tail drab gray, 
the former with whitish edging on middle and greater coverts and fertials. Bill 
and feet black; iris brown. Young birds are nearly uniform sooty brown lighten- 
ing below. Length 10.00-11.00; wing 5.30 (135); tail 5.00 (127); bill .71 (18); 
tarsus 1.30 (33). 
Recognition Marks.—Robin size; brownish gray coloration, familiar, fear- 
less ways. Not certainly distinguishable afield from the next form. 
Nesting.—Nest: a bulky compacted structure of twigs, plant-fibers and tree- 
moss with warm lining of fine mosses and feathers, placed well up in fir tree. 
Eggs: 4 or 5, light gray or pale greenish gray spotted with grayish brown and 
dull lavender. Av. size 1.04. x.79 (26.4x.20). Season: Feb.-April; one brood. 
General Range.—Pacific Coast district from Humboldt county, California, 
north to Vancouver Island. Imperfectly made out as regards following form. 
Range in Washington.—Probably the Olympic Mountains and irregularly 
thru the heavier forests of southwestern Washington. 
Authorities.—P. canadensis Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R R. Surv. IX. pt. II. 
1858, 591 part. Ridgway, Bull. Essex Inst. V. Nov. 1873, 194. (T) C&S. Lt. 
Ihe Ray Bae Ge) 
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. E. C. 
THE relative distribution of the Oregon Jay and the more recently dis- 
tinguished Gray Jay is still very imperfectly understood. It would appear 
probable that this form is the bird of the rainy district, including all lowlands 
of western Washington, the Olympic Mountains, and the western slopes of 
the Cascades, and that it gives place to P. 0. griseus not only upon the heights 
and eastern slopes of the Cascades, but in the deep valleys which penetrate 
these mountains from the west. 
Certainly it is the Oregon Jay which abounds in the Olympic Mountains, 
and among the dense spruce forests of the adjoining coasts. While the bird is 
more abundant on the lowlands in winter, the prevalent opinion that the Oregon 
Jay is exclusively a bird of the mountains is probably incorrect. Altho bold 
enough where undisturbed, the birds soon learn caution; and their nests have 
