THE STELLER JAY. 35 



he never knows what the wonder pouches may contain, vintil he has ripped a 

 hole in tlie side and inserted his piratical beak. 



The dense forests of Pnget Sound are not so well patrolled by these 

 feathered grafters as are the forests of the E^st by the true Blue Jay 

 (Cyanocitta cristata). But then our bird has the advantage of denser cover, 

 and we do not know how often w^e have been scrutinized or shadowed. Upon 

 discovery the Steller Jay sets up a great outcry and makes off thru the thickets 

 shrieking lustily. A favorite method of retreat is to flit up into the lower 

 branches of a tir tree and, keeping close to the trunk, tO' ascend the succeeding 

 limbs as by a spiral staircase. The bird, indeed, takes a childish delight in this 

 mad exercise, and no sooner does he quit one tree-top than he dashes down 

 to a neighboring tree to run another frenzied gamut. 



Owls have abundant cover in western Washington, but should one of 

 them 1)6 startled by day, the Steller blue-coat is the first to note the villain's 

 flight. The alarm is sounded and an animated pursuit begins. When the 

 Owl is brought to l>ay, the deafening objurgation of the Jays is not the least 

 indignity which he is made to suft'er. The Jay, in fact, seeks to make the 

 world forget his own offenses by heaping obloquy upon this blinking sinner. 



The notes of the Steller Jay are harsh and expletive to a degree. Sliaack. 

 sliaack, sliaack is a common (and most exasperating) form: or, 1i\- a little 

 stretch of the imagination one may hear jay, jay, jay. A mellow klook, klook, 

 klook sometimes varies the rasping imprecations and serves tO' remind one 

 that the Jay is cousin to the Crow. Other and minor notes there are for the 

 lesser and rarer emotions, and some of these not unmusical. Very rarely the 

 bird attempts song, and succeeds in producing a medley which quite satisfies 

 her that he could if he wduld. 



C. stelleri. like C. cristata again, is something of a mimic. The notes of 

 the Western Red-tail (Buteo borealis caliinis) and other hawks are reproduced 

 with especial fidelity. For such an effort the Jay conceals himself in the depths 

 of a large-leafed ma])le or in a fir thicket, and his sole object appears to be that 

 of terrorizing the neighboring song-birds. One such I heard holding forth 

 from a shade tree on the Asylum grounds at Steilacoom. Uncannv sounds 

 are, of course, not unknown here, hut an exploratory pebl)le served to unmask 

 the cheat, and drove forth a very much chastened Blue Jav before a companv 

 of applauding Juncoes. 



It is well known that the gentleman burglar takes a conscientious pride 

 in the safety and welfare of his own home. Nothing shall molest his dear 

 ones. The Jay becomes secretive and silent as the time for nest-building 

 approaches. The nest is well concealed in a dense thicket of fir saplings, or 

 else set at varif)us heights in the larger fir trees. If one but looks at it before 

 the complement of eggs is laid the liK-ality is deserted forthwith. If, however, 

 the enter])rise is irretrievably launched, the birds take care nut tn he seen in 



