CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. 275 



Nest. A loosely constructed mass of thorn brush lined with finer mate- 

 rials. Eggs: greenish blue, heavily spotted with brown and lavender, 

 especially at larger end. 



480.2. Aphelocoma texana Eidgw. TEXAN JAY. 



Like cyanotis, but. white superciliary more distinct, under parts paler and 

 browner gray, lower throat and chest with obsolete grayish streaks instead 

 of blue streaks. 



Remarks. Texana differs from woodhouseii in obsolete streakings of 

 chest, paler, browner breast, and white under tail coverts. 



Distribution. Southwestern Texas, from Concho and Kerr counties west 

 to the Davis Mountains. 



481. Aphelocoma calif ornica (Vig.). CALIFORNIA JAY. 



Adults. Upper parts blue except for brownish back and scapulars ; 

 under parts white except for bluish streaking on throat and partial blue 

 and brownish necklace ; white superciliary clearly defined ; sides of head 

 blackish. Young : head only tinged with blue, nearly uniform with brown- 

 ish back ; throat white, unstreaked ; chest washed with brownish gray ; belly 

 whitish. Length : 11.50-12.25, wing 4.70-5.20, tail 5.45-6.10, bill .87-1.03. 



Remarks. Calif ornica and woodhouseii are easily told apart, as cali- 

 f ornica is whitish instead of brownish gray below, and brown instead of 

 grayish on back. 



Distribution. Pacific coast region from the Columbia River southward, 

 including both slopes of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, to northern Lower 

 California. 



Nest. Interlaced twigs, mixed sometimes with moss, stubble, and grass, 

 surrounding an inner nest of fine roots sometimes mixed with horsehair ; 

 placed usually in low bushes, but also in trees 3 to 30 feet from the ground, 

 generally not far from water. Eggs : 3 to 6, buffy or green, varying 

 greatly in shade, the buffy ones spotted and blotched with brown, the 

 green with markings generally scattered over the entire surface. 



Food. Bird's eggs, insects, acorns, pine nuts, wild fruits, and berries; 

 also, about settlements, hens' eggs and grain. 



In coming down the Sierra Nevada you sometimes find that the 

 range of the blue -fronted is overlapped by that of the California jay ; 

 but in the main you see the dark-crested frontalis sailing down 

 from the fir-tops, and hear the light-colored, flat-headed California 

 jays squawking through the digger pines and chaparral of the low 

 country, where the valley quail has replaced the mountain quail. 

 'Blue squawkers' the birds are called locally, and the name seems 

 most appropriate when the hot thick air over the oaks and chaparral 

 is vibrating with their cries. The Aphelocoma voice differs strikingly 

 from that of frontalis, having a flat tone and being uttered with un- 

 seemly haste. Its notes vary greatly in expression and are so em- 

 phatic and often peremptory that one cannot doubt that something 

 important is being said. A favorite cry, used apparently to rouse 

 attention, is a quick " quay -quay-quay-quay-quay-quay-quay " ^An- 

 other still nlore emphatic one is boy'-ee boy'-ee, while an inquiring 

 r-keef is often heard. Sometimes when a jay flies down to a 



