[ 42-0 ] BIRDSOFOREGON 



DISTRIBUTION. General: South-central Oregon, western Nevada, and California, 

 except humid coast strip south to San Diego County. In Oregon: Permanent resident 

 of Warner Mountains and timbered area westward to Klamath Falls, intergrading 

 with C. s. carbonacea in Siskiyous and southern Cascades and along eastern slope of 

 Cascades. (See Figure ix.) 



MEARNS (1879) first listed the Blue-fronted Jay as a common breeding 

 species at Fort Klamath, and Willett (1919) found it at Old Fort Warner 

 on Hart Mountain. It is a common and conspicuous permanent resident 

 in the yellow-pine forests of south-central Oregon. Its nesting habits and 

 behavior are identical with those of the Coast Jay. Patterson (ms.) has 

 egg dates from the southern Cascades from April 2.0 to May 10, and 

 Gabrielson flushed a bird from a nest containing four eggs on April 18, 

 192.3. The nest was built about 8 feet from the ground in a small yellow- 

 pine sapling. It was made of sticks and was lined with fine vegetation. 



Black-headed Jay: 



Cyanocitta stelleri annectens (Baird) 



DESCRIPTION.- "Head black, back slaty, blue of under parts dark as in stelleri; streaks 

 on forehead bluish white, sometimes indistinct; small white spot over eye. Remarks: The 

 black-headed [jay] has the general body colors of the Steller jay, with the eye spot 

 and streaks approaching those of the long-crested [form]. Length: 11.50-13.75, wing 

 5.90-6.60, tail 5.80-6.65, exposed culmen .97-1.08." (Bailey) Nest and eggs: As for 

 C. s. carbonacea. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Boreal and Transition Zones of the Rocky Mountains, 

 from British Columbia south to eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. In Oregon: 

 Permanent resident of Blue Mountain area, including all forested parts of Wallowa, 

 Union, and Baker Counties, of northern Malheur, northern Harney, Grant, Wheeler, 

 Crook, extreme eastern Jefferson, southern Gilliam, and southern Morrow Counties, 

 and of Umatilla County, except sagebrush area along Columbia. (See Figure 11.) 



THE BLACK-HEADED JAY remains in Oregon as a permanent resident of the 

 breeding range, though there is a noticeable altitudinal movement that 

 concentrates a large part of the jay population in the lower elevations 

 during cold weather. Nuttall's (1840) mention of the Steller Jay of the 

 Blue Mountains is the first record for the State that can be assigned 

 definitely to this form. Bendire (Brewer 1875) found it near Camp Har- 

 ney, and he gave a little more information on its habits in his 1877 paper 

 on the same region. Miller (1904) recorded it from Wheeler County and 

 Walker (1917) from extreme eastern Jefferson County. We have found it 

 to be a common resident of the Blue Mountains, from the yellow pine 

 zone well up toward timber line, and have at hand many specimens well 

 distributed over the territory assigned to it. We have one typical bird 

 (Jewett Coll. No. 6969), taken on Hart Mountain, October 13, 1931; 

 the only specimen that we have taken outside of its normal range in the 

 State. Its nesting habits and behavior are identical with those of the 



