CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. 271 



The birds are quick to take advantage of circumstances, and have 

 been found living largely on dead fish at Lake Winnemucca, Nevada, 

 feeding with the chickens in Utah, and during deep snows in Ore- 

 gon keeping their toes warm by spending a large share of their time 

 perched on the backs of horses and mules. 



476. Pica nuttalli Aud. YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE. 



Similar to the P. p. hudsonica, but smaller and with bill and naked 

 skin back of eye bright yellow. Length: 16-18, wing 7.20-7.70, tail 9.30- 

 10.30, exposed culmen 1.04-1.17, tarsus 1.63-1.89. 



Distribution. Resident in California west of the Sierra Nevada moun- 

 tains from Sacramento Valley south to about latitude 34, locally distrib- 

 uted. 



Nest. Similar to that of hudsonica, with the addition of cow manure 

 and inner bark of the cottonwood ; placed in oaks, sycamores, cotton- 

 woods, and willows, usually 30 to 60 feet from the ground. Eggs : about 

 7, like those of the black-billed, but a trifle smaller and with a more green- 

 ish tinge. 



Food. Grasshoppers, ants, worms, grubs, offal, carrion, seeds, and waste 

 grain. 



In a restricted area of the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys in 

 California some of the yellow-billed magpies are still left, but they 

 are so much in evidence and afford such a tempting target that the 

 days of the little band are probably numbered. In June, 1900, in 

 the grain and oak fields of the Sierra foothills we counted nineteen 

 of the splendid fellows flying about in one meadow near the mouth of 

 a low canyon. They are tame and familiar if their suspicions are 

 not aroused, but let a man appear with a gun and they are over the 

 treetops and away. 



They are as bold, as shy, and as garrulous as their black-billed 

 cousins across the range. Half a dozen in a tree of over-ripe figs 

 remind one of the chatter of an afternoon tea. 



GENUS CYANOCITTA. 



General Characters. Conspicuously crested ; nostrils concealed ; wings 

 and tail about equal, rounded ; hind claw equaling or exceeding its toe in 

 length. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Under parts whitish cristata, p. 271. 



1'. Under parts blue. 



2. With white spot over eye. 



3. Belly pale blue diademata, p. 273. 



3'. Belly dark blue annectens, p. 273. 



2'. Without white spot over eye. 



3. Under parts dark blue stelleri, p. 272. 



3'. Under parts light blue frontalis, p. 273. 



477. Cyanocitta cristata (Linn.). BLUE JAY. 



Adults. Crest and back light purplish blue; wings and tail blue, 



