402 Wetmore, Birds of Lake Burford, N. Mex. ljuly 



Here they walked about in the open hunting for beetles, or flew along 

 low over the rushes searching for the nests of blackbirds. The male 

 Yellowheads and Redwings flew up and attacked them savagely but the 

 crows paid them little attention. 



58. Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus (Wied). Pinyon Jay. — The 

 Pinyon Jay was common among the Pines and Cedars on the hills around 

 the lake. During May and the first part of June little parties of half 

 a dozen or more were observed at intervals flying in the open or working 

 through the pinyons. On June 14 a flock of about 100 appeared and 

 fed among the sage-grown knolls until the time of my departure. On 

 the ground these jays walked quickly, holding themselves upright with 

 heads very high. This attitude, with the short tail and general build 

 gave them a striking resemblance to Starlings though the neck appeared 

 longer than in that species. When startled the whole flock flew off by 

 easy stages through the cedars giving their pleasant, curiously modulated 

 call notes. A considerable number of these birds were young of the year, 

 and some of these, though well grown, were still being fed by their parents. 

 In color these young birds appeared distinctly grayer, less blue, than 

 the adults, and their call note was a persistent quay-quay, quay-quay 

 that at once attracted attention. 



59. Molothrus ater (Boddaert). Cowbird. — The Cowbird was not 

 observed at Lake Burford until May 30, when a female appeared near the 

 cabin. On the following day a male was seen. This second bird took 

 up his residence at the cabin and, becoming very tame, remained within 

 a few yards of it constantly until my departure. When not feeding on 

 the ground nearby he was usually to be found in the top of a low bush 

 near the cabin door. The performance in singing was as follows: the bird 

 would rest quietly for a few seconds, then expand the tail and draw the 

 tip slightly forward, erect the feathers of the back and to a less extent 

 those of breast and abdomen, and then sing bub ko lum tsee. In giving 

 the first three notes he rose twice to the full extent of his legs and sank 

 back quickly. After singing the bird relaxed and sat quietly for a short 

 time. At noon on June 1, while watching this bird, I heard a low call 

 like tsee tsee, to which the bird under observation responded. At once a 

 second male came flying in, and, suddenly checking when two or three 

 feet from the bush, extended the bill straight up and in this attitude came 

 down slowly to a perch three feet from the first bird. This one at once 

 assumed the same attitude, and the two remained thus for two or three 

 minutes with bills pointing straight in the air, twisting their heads around 

 but seeming never to look directly at one another. Finally first one 

 and then the other lowered his bill and glanced at his neighbor but im- 

 mediately stiffened up again in the erect attitude. The newcomer gradu- 

 ally relaxed, finally sinking down and fluffing out his feathers to remain 

 almost asleep. The original male then began to sing, opening his wings 

 wide and then closing them again in addition to his other motions, and at 

 times nearly overbalancing in the violence of his display. 



