i8S6.] Scott o>i the Breeding Habits of Arizona Birds. 8 1 



ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF SOME ARIZONA 



BIRDS. 



"by w. e. d. scott. 



Fifth Paper. 



Aphelocoma sieberii arizonae. 



The Arizona Jay {Ap/ieloco?na sieberii arizoncc) is an abun- 

 dant species and resident wherever the live-oaks arc found on the 

 San Pedro slope of Las Sierras de Santa Catalina, between the 

 altitudes of 3000 and 7000 feet. It is generally seen in parties 

 of from half-a-dozen to twenty, and is an eminently gregarious 

 and sociable bird, even during the season of breeding ; and I can- 

 not recall an instance where I have met with a solitary individual. 

 Generally rather wary in its habits, it becomes more familiar in 

 winter, and a bone or piece of meat hung in a tree that shades 

 my house, induced daily visits as long as the severer weather of 

 the past year lasted. It is quite as terrestrial as the common Crow 

 of the East, and in many of its habits remind me of that species. 

 During the season of acorns they form a great element in its diet, 

 and at other times seeds of grasses and some kinds of grubs and 

 beetles are its principal food. 



About the last of February, 18S5, I noticed the birds mating, 

 and on the 16th of March found a nest, apparently completed, 

 but containing no eggs. There were at least half-a-dozen pairs 

 of the birds in the immediate vicinity, but a close search did 

 not reveal any otlier nests. The nest was built in an oak sapling 

 about ten feet from the ground, and is composed of dry rootlets 

 laid very loosely in concentric rings, and with little or no attempt 

 at weaving together. There is nothing like a lining, and the walls 

 of the structure have an average thickness of about three-quar- 

 ters of an Inch. The interior diameter is five inches, and 

 the greatest interior depth an inch and three-quarters. The 

 whole fabric recalls to mind a rather deep saucer. The nest was 

 not built in a crotch, but where several small branches and twigs 

 leave the large branch (an inch and a half in diameter) which 

 forms the main support. All the other nests I have seen resemble 

 this one so closely that this description will answer for them. 



