THE BLACK-HEADED JAY. 37 



Culunihia l\i\-er: and since tlie district l\ing between the Culuinhia and i'u,c;et 

 Sound presents iiiterg;ra(les between C. stcllcri and C. s. carbonacca, obviously, 

 those Javs wliicli inhabit the southern portion of this debatalile ground are 

 better entitled to ])c called airhdiuicai than stcllcri. 



No. II. 



BLACK-HEADED JAY. 



A. O. U. No. 478c. Cyanocitta stelleri annectens (Baird). 



Synonyms. — "BLuii Jay." Pimc Jay. Moixtaix Jay. 



Description. — Adults: Similar to C. stcllcri, but marked with a small 

 lengllicned white spot over eye; streaks on forehead (when present) paler blue or 

 whitish ; streaks on chin and upper throat whiter and more distinct ; blue areas 

 slightly paler and rather more greenish in tone. Size indistinguishable. 



Recognition Marks. — .-\s in C. stcllcri. White spot over eye distinctive. 



Nesting. — As in C'. stcllcri. 



General Range. — Eastern British Columbia and the northern Rocky Moun- 

 tains, snuih to W'ahsatch Range in Utah, west to eastern slopes of Cascade Range 

 in Washington and ()regon. 



Range in Washington. — Forests of eastern Washington, shatling into 

 typical stcllcri in Cascade Range. Nearly confined to pine timber. 



Authorities. — Cyanocitta stelleri annectens. Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Orn. 

 Club. \ II., 1SS2, 229: (C&S.) D'. D^ J. 



TIlEl\i{ is no such difference of plumage between C. stcllcri and C. s. 

 annectens as is suggested by the name "Black-headed" : but in endeavoring to 

 mark eight shades of difference between tweedledum and tweedledee within 

 the limits f>f a single species, we are naturally pretty hard put to it for 

 appropriate names. Annectens marks the annexion, or welding together, of 

 two branching lines in the C. stelleri group. It is the head of the wish-bone, 

 whose divergent arms run down the vSierras to Lower California and along 

 the Rockies to Guatamala res]>ectively. 



With a hypothetical center of distril)Ution somewhere in southeastern 

 British Columbia, this sul)si)ecies inosculates with stelleri*\n the momitains 

 of that ])rovince, and is roughly separated from the western stock by the 

 central ridge of the Cascades, in Washington. 



Black-headed Jays in W'ashington are normally confined ti> the limits 

 of coniferous timl)er, Ijeing therefore most abundant in the northern portion, 

 in the Blue Mountains, and along the eastern slopes of the Cascades. We 

 have, liowever, like B.endire. discovered them on occasion skulking in the 



