94 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 14 



184. Otocoris alpestris hoyti iJishoj) 



HoYT lIciHNEI) IjAKK 



An adult female was taken at .Miles City. November 9, 1919, by Hedges. 

 Mr. Hedges wrote me that with binoculars he picked this dark-colored bird out 

 of a flock of lighter colored ones, just at dusk. The specimen was sent to Dr. 

 Bishop who wrote me that ho considers it lioyfi but approaching arcticola. 



185. Pica pica hudsonia (Sabine j 



Magpie 



An abundant permanent resident throughout the state. Breeds in the Tran- 

 sition zone, in Cottonwood groves, willow and alder thickets, or in thorn bushes. 

 Karelj' breeds in evergreens in the foothills of the mountains, and not found in 

 the mountains in the breeding season above the Transition zone. All observers 

 mention the abundance of this species in every part of the state. 



While the Magpie is a permanent resident, there is a movement of many 

 birds up into the mountains in the fall. This occurs in October, with the first 

 cold weather and snowstorms. At such times I have seen Magpies in the Hud- 

 sonian zone at elevations between eight and nine thousand feet. They evidently 

 do not stay long as they are not seen at such places in winter. 



Nesting begins in April. The birds have been seen nest-building on High- 

 wood Creek, Choteau County, March 28, 1914 (DuBois, MS). The earliest eggs 

 on record were found at Choteau, April 7, 1912 (Saunders, 1914a, p. 135). The 

 majority of nests are finished and with' incubation begun before the first day of 

 May, but nests with fresh eggs may be occasionally found late in ^lay. Such 

 nests have been found at Button, May 21, 1916 (DuBois, MS) and at Choteau, 

 May 26, 1912. The young are first seen out of the nest the last of May or early 

 in June. There is evidently no second brood. The eggs usually number from 

 six to ten, but one nest containing thirteen was found at Lewistown (Silloway. 

 1904b, p. 148). 



186. Cyanocitta stelleri annectens (Baird) 



Black-headed Jay 



A permanent resident of the mountains of western Montana, found mainly 

 in the Canadian zone. This species has been recorded from all mountainous 

 parts of the state where ornithological work has been done, except the Big Horn 

 Mountains. It is never very counuon and is more or less local in distribution, 

 being most often met with in the vicinity of saw-mills and lumber camps, where 

 it feeds on garbage and scraps and becomes remarkably tame. The easternmost 

 records of its occurrence are the Snowy Mountains (Silloway, 1903a, p. 42), and 

 the Belt Mountains (Williams, 1882a, p. 61). I have seen this species in Park 

 County, in Tom Minor Basin, and at other points on the west side of the Yellow- 

 stone, and I do not doubt its occurrence in the Absaroka and Crazy mountains 

 farther east, though it is not as yet reported from those ranges. 



While this species is not migratory, it is sometimes seen in the valleys at 



