284 



BLUE JAY. 



Cyanoeitta cristata. 



DESCRIPTION 



Head crested; bill rather slender; length about twelve inches; 

 extent about seventeen; bill and legs black; eyes brown; crest 

 and upper back a light purplish-blue; wings and tail bright 

 blue; lower parts whitish and grayish white, crossed on lower 

 throat by a black collar which unites with black feathers on 

 sides of head and crest; narrow frontal line and lores back. 



Habitat. — Eastern North America to the plains, and froni the 

 Pur countries south to Florida and eastern Texas. Resident 

 in Pennsylvania. 



The Blue Jay is found in Pennsylvania during all 

 seasons of the year, but in the autumn and summer 

 months this species is more plentiful than at other per- 

 iods. This beautiful bird is an inhabitant chiefly of 

 the forests. During the breeding season Jays usually 

 associate in pairs, but in the late summer and autumn 

 it is not unusual to find them in small flocks. 



THE NEST AND EGGS. 



Both sexes engage in nest-building, which, in this 

 latitude, is begun about the 20th of April. A nest 

 which I saw the birds building was completed in about 

 five days. The nest, a strong bulky structure, com- 

 posed chiefly of t^\ags and fine roots, is placed com- 

 monly in a tree in the woods ; sometimes, though rarel v 

 in this locality, nests are built in low bushes. The 

 eggs, four to six in number, mostly five, are greenish 

 or brownish gray, spotted with brown. Length about 

 L15 inches, width .84 of an inch. In Florida the Blue 

 Jay nests some five or s;ix weeks earliei* than in this 

 latitude; at least I suppose this to be the case, as T have 



