COR\ DJi — THE CROWS. 289 



Jolin Gould, differs again in having the dorsal patch ol)scuivd by a hUiish 

 wash; an unusual amount of hlue edging to the tlu'oat and jugular leatlnns, 

 and a dull br(j\vnish tinge to tlie belly. Jt almost suggests the possibility 

 of a hybrid form Ijetween stnnichrasti and ultra marina. 



Haiuts. The California Jay appears to be a racitic coast species, w.- 

 curriug from the Colundjia Kiver southward to C\ipe St. Lucas, 'out nut 

 found in the interior at anv c(jnsiderable distance from the coast. Mr 

 liidgway speaks of it as the Valley Jay of California, having Ik-en o'oserved 

 by him in abundance onlv amoni' tlie oaks of the Sacramento Vallev, the 

 brushwood of the ravines, and the scattered })ines of the foot-Iiills along the 

 western base of the Sierra Nevada. It was also (piite common, i!i A]>ril, in 

 the vicinity of Carson City, where he found it breeding, its notes anil 

 manners, he adds, are very similar to those ol" the Woodliouse Jay, behj iging 

 to the wooded regions of the interior, but the shrill cries of this species are 

 even more piercing. There is, moreover, something In its appearance, caused 

 by the sharp contrast of the bright l>lue, the light ash, and tne i)ure white 

 colors, by which it may be distinguished at a glance from the more uniforndy 

 colored woodhousci. 



Dr. Heerman speaks of it as frequenting to seme extent the same districts 

 as Steller's Jay, but also found in greater abundance throughout the val- 

 leys. He likewise describes it as noisy, alert, and cunning in its hal>its, 

 wild and wary, and yet often seeking the habitations of man, near which 

 to rear its young, drawn tliitlier by the abundance of food found in such 

 localities. Their nests, he states, are built in a thick-leaved bush, or on the 

 lower branches of an oak, at but little height from the ground. They are 

 constructed of twigs, and are lined with tine rootlets. The eggs, four in 

 number, are, he says, emerald-green in color, profusely dotted with umber- 

 brown spots. 



Dr. Newberry states that he found the trees and the thickets boidering 

 the streams in the valleys the favorite haunts of the California Jay. As 

 his party ascended among the evergreen forests of the higher grounds, and 

 passed northeasterly from the Sacramento Valley, these birds were no 

 longer met with, and long before reaching the Oregon line they lost sight 

 of it altogether. Nor did they meet with it again until their return to 

 California. This Jay, he adds, has all the sprightliness and restlessness of 

 the family, Imt is less noisy, and its notes are far more agreeable than those 

 of Steller's Jay, by which it is replaced at the north. 



The Smithsonian ^luseum has a specimen of this species obtained on the 

 Columbia by Townsend, and ^Ir. Nuttall mentions that early in October, 

 on arriving at the forests of the Columbia, near Fort Vancouver, he met 

 with it in company with Steller's Jay. They were breeding in the dark 

 pine woods, and by the 15th of June they w^ere feeding their fully fledged 

 young. He also states that they were found as far north as Fmser's Kiver, 

 migrating to the south at the approach of winter. Without questioning the 



vol.. II. 37 



