394 Cameron, Birds of Custer & Dawson Counties, Mont. [oct* 



In April, 1904 (as Mr. J. H. Price informs me), J. Anderson of Sheep 

 Creek (Custer County) had much trouble in corralling his horses owing 

 to a large flock of crows which alarmed the animals by cawing in the pines. 

 Mr. F. Z. Gray saw a flock of forty crows at Knowlton on March 31, 1907. 

 As far as I can learn the crow has not nes*ted in either county since 1885, 

 but old nests may still be seen (April, 1907). Fifteen, which are in Mr. 

 Dan Bowman's pasture on Sheep Creek, are situated in ash trees about 

 fifteen feet from the ground. 



109. Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus. Pinon Jay. — Common in the 

 pine hills of both counties. Occurs sporadically in roving flocks of from 

 fifty to a hundred individuals in fall, but at least one resident flock in- 

 habits the tract of rough country, some four by eight miles in extent, 

 which is drained by Cottonwood Creek in Dawson County. (See Auk, 

 Vol. XXIV, Plate VII.) This is an area of pine hills and badlands 

 combined, practically impassable on horseback, and contains in its secure 

 recesses not only the eyrie of the Golden Eagles, but, where bounded on 

 the south by the Yellowstone, one of Prairie Falcons as well. 



Here, where the buttes rise sheer from the water's edge, the Pinon Jays 

 may be seen on the high peaks, either walking about the cliff or flying 

 slowly along its precipitous face, when they strongly recall the Jackdaws 

 of Great Britain. The same flock constantly frequent my ranch and 

 drink regularly at the water-troughs, where their blue plumage against 

 the green cedar background has a fine effect in bright sunshine. 



When actually in the trees, Pinon Jays are hard to see on account of the 

 thick branches, but being restless birds they constantly pass and repass 

 through the scattered pines in straggling flight. Although their ordinary 

 pace is slow, they can, when they like, fly very swiftly. Their presence is 

 always proclaimed by their shrill cry of wl-ar whack, wl-ar whack; the 

 last note short, but the first two notes long and high pitched like the 

 caterwaul of a cat. Should a flock be disturbed when feeding in the pines, 

 the first bird taking wing will warn the others by this cry, when they will 

 follow leisurely, one at a time, until all are in flight and calling, the last to 

 leave, however, being a long way behind the first. When flying to water 

 they act in much the same manner. Pinon Jays have also a single call, 

 like the cry of the young but harsher, and (as pointed out by Mr. Ridgway) 1 

 another "peculiar querulous note" like that of the Magpie in the love 

 season. 



That the cry of the young birds, both in and out of the nest, is precisely 

 similar to that of young magpies, I can assert from my own experience, 

 having been able to compare both at the same time, x*Uthough at the 

 time of writing (April, 1907) only two nests of the Pinon Jay have been 

 discovered, it is evident that many pairs must breed here, for I have seen 

 and watched numbers of the newly fledged young which could only just 



1 North American Birds, by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Land Birds, Vol. II, 

 p. 261, 1874. 



