JAYS AND MAGPIES: Family Corvidae [ 419 ] 



his manuscript notes. He listed four nesting records for the Coast Jay: 

 April 15, 1906, nest and four eggs; May 17, 1908, nest and three eggs; 

 and May 8, 192.7, nest and four eggs, all from Portland; and a nest and 

 four eggs from the headwaters of Hood River, May 5, 1919. All eggs 

 were fresh. Prill took a nest containing three eggs from a "small fir 

 bush within reach of hand" near Scio, Linn County, June 4, 192.0. Griep- 

 entrog, in a letter, reported one "carrying sticks for nesting material" at 

 Salem, Marion County, April 8, 1934. In 1934 Jewett took a set of five 

 incubated eggs from a nest 12. feet from the ground in a lone fir tree at 

 Jennings Lodge, Clackamas County, on April 15, and Braly a set of four 

 eggs from a nest "low in a fir sapling" at Depoe Bay, Lincoln County, 

 on April 17. 



The "Blue Jay," as these vividly colored woodlanders are wrongly 

 called by many local residents, is a well-known but scarcely well-loved 

 bird. Sportsmen and nature lovers cry out against it because of its un- 

 doubted fondness for the eggs and young of other birds. No one can 

 deny that the handsome rascal is guilty, though the extent of his depre- 

 dations can be easily exaggerated by a good imagination. Farmers, par- 

 ticularly those engaged in the comparatively new Oregon industry of 

 growing filberts, complain bitterly at the loss of nuts. To many of these 

 people who operate small tracts the loss of the entire crop from a tree 

 or two is a serious matter. Such losses usually are most severe when 

 filberts are planted adjacent to timber growth. Shooting the culprits, 

 about the only feasible method of getting relief, is not always an easy 

 matter. The Coast Jays, like their relatives, are intelligent and cunning 

 and soon become adept at slipping in and out of an orchard where shoot- 

 ing is undertaken, without undue danger to themselves. Their depreda- 

 tions commence as the nuts begin to fill and continue up to harvest time. 

 Complaints are received also of the destruction of fruits, particularly 

 cherries, and once in a while is heard a story of the killing of young 

 chickens. 



Much could be written about these jays, which, despite their bad 

 habits, are among the most interesting as well as the most beautiful of 

 our feathered neighbors. Somehow the woodlands would lose a great 

 deal of their charm if there were no chance of seeing the handsome dark- 

 blue coat or of hearing the raucous voice of this typical bird of the fir 

 forests. 



Blue-fronted Jay: 



Cyanodtta stelleri frontalis (Ridgway) 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults: Fore parts of body brownish slate, with blue tinge to crest 

 and blue streaks on forehead; wings and tail dark blue, barred ; rump and under parts 

 dull turquoise. Length: 11.75-13.00, wing 5.50-6.10, tail 5.10-5.75, exposed culmen 

 1.00-1.2.0." (Bailey) Nest and eggs: As for C. s. carbonacea. 



