ZOOLOGY. 215 



Gyanurus stellcri, SWAINSON, F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 495, App. 



Cyanoc&rax stdleri, BON. List, 1838. 



Cyanocitta stelleri, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, iv, 1857, 85. 



Cyanogarrulus stelleri, BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, 377. 



Steller s crow, PENNANT, Arctic Zool. II, Sp. 139. LATH. Syn. I, 387. 



Cyanura steUeri, Sw. BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Birds, 1858, p. 581. 



SP. CH. Crest about one-third longer than the bill. Fifth quill longest ; second about equal to the secondary quills. 

 Tail graduated ; lateral feathers about . 70 of an inch shortest Head and neck all round, and fore part of breast, dark 

 brownish black. Back and lesser wing coverts blackish brown, the scapulars glossed with blue. Under parts, rump, tail 

 coverts, and wing, greenish blue ; exposed surfaces of lesser quills dark indigo blue ; tertials and ends of tail feathers rather 

 obsoletely banded with black. Feathers of the forehead streaked with greenish blue. Length, 12. 25 inches; extent, 18 

 wing, 5. 85 ; tail, 5. 85; tarsus, 1. 75. Iris brown, bill and feet black. 



Hab. Pacific coast of North America ; east to St. Mary s Mission, Rocky mountains. 



Steller s jay is very common in all the forests of the Territory on both sides of the Cascade 

 mountains. It has much the same habits as the blue-jay of the eastern States, but differs in 

 notes, having a louder and harsher voice. It seems to depend upon the forests chiefly for its 

 food, but in winter visits the vicinity of houses, stealing potatoes and almost anything eatable. 

 During these forages on the garden, made during the early morning, they are very silent and 

 watchful, evidently conscious of the criminality of their actions, and when discovered fly off to 

 the concealment of the forest. They will also visit Indian lodges while the owners are absent, 

 and enter them if possible, one all the time keeping watch. In the forest they are not shy 5 

 but often rather boldly follow intruders, screaming and calling their fellows around. Where 

 hazelnuts grow these are a great article of winter food for them. To break the shells they 

 carry them to a branch, and fixing them in a notch of the bark, hammer with their bill till the 

 nut is extracted. In summer they suck bird s eggs, and doubtless often devour young birds. 

 The nest is large, loosely built of sticks, and placed in a bush or tree. I have never seen the 

 eggs, but the young are fledged by the middle of June. C. 



The Steller s jay is, probably, the most abundant bird of its size in all the timbered country 

 between the Rocky mountain divide and the Pacific ocean. It is tame and loquacious, and 

 possessed of a most impudent curiosity. The nickname given to this bird by the Nisqually 

 Indians is &quot;Sky-ky,&quot; or the chief. It is a hardy, tough bird, and a constant winter resident of 

 Washington Territory. This jay is remarkable for its varied cries and notes, having one for 

 nearly every emotion or pursuit in which it may be engaged. I think it also has a fondness for 

 mimicking the cries of other birds. I have frequently been most pleasantly excited in hopes of 

 obtaining a rare bird, the cry of which I had never heard before, and which was then issuing 

 from some clump of bushes or thicket ; but was almost invariably disappointed by finding that 

 the strange notes had issued from this jay. It mimics the principal cry of the Mimusfdivox 

 perfectly. The males and females of this species are alike in appearance. Two male birds 

 that I skinned in 1856 measured, each, 12 by 17. S. 



NOTE. The Californian jay (Cyanociita californica) Townsend mentions obtaining on the 

 Columbia river. I have never seen it in either Territory. S. 



