42 BULLETIN FERGUS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL 



Frequently a nest of enormous size is found. On April 23, 1901, 

 I found a nest of the American magpie in a haw tree in a small coulee. 

 This nest was made on nearly horizontal branches, though they might 

 have bent later beneath the weight of material piled upon them. This 

 nest was four feet high, four feet long, and forty inches wide, a great 

 mass of tangled sticks forming the canopy, while the base contained 

 enough material to fill a large clothes basket. It is fair to say that one- 

 fourth of the material in this nest would have made 'the average nest. 



In a record of fifteen nests examined in 1900-01, two were sixteen 

 feet from the ground to base of nest, one was twelve feet, three were ten 

 feet, one was nine feet, and the remainder were seven feet from the 

 ground, the average being between nine and ten feet. 



The number of eggs in the complement varies from six to nine. I 

 found six eggs in only two full set; seven, eight, and nine are found 

 generally, the larger numbers being the commonest in first sets when the 

 birds are disturbed in their nidification. "The eggs are grayish-white, 

 with a yellowish, occasionally with a greenish tinge, spotted, dashed and 

 dotted with markings of purplish or violet-brown; most thickly around the 

 larger end. Average size, 1.34 x .89 inches." 



Distinguishing features: Head, neck, back, breast and upper part 

 of legs, velvet black; other upper parts rich metallic greenish blue and 

 other hues; shoulders, sides and other under parts pure white; length 17- 

 22 inches. 



478c. BLACK-HEADED JAY. Cyanocitta stelleri annectens. 



This handsome jay has never chanced under my observation in this 

 region, but several good observers have reported its occurrence in the 

 Big Snowy Mountains, where wooded ravines and coulees containing 

 streams form its favored haunts. In the Flathead Lake region, I found this 

 jay frequenting the dwarf pines near the rocky summits of Hall's Peak, 

 at 7,500 feet elevation, as well as near the lake shore. 



Distinguishing features: Upper parts dark blue, head chiefly black; 

 lower parts blue; head with a prominent crest; length 12-14 inches. 

 484a. ROCKY MOUNTAIN JAY. Perisoreus canadensis capitalis. 



A common resident of the higher mountainous districts, and known 

 among the prospectors and ranchers as the "tallowhead." In their list of 

 birds of south-central Montana, Messrs. Richmond and Knowlton state 

 that this jay is very common in the mountains from the lowest limit of the 

 coniferous forests up to at least 9,000 feet, above which altitude the observ- 

 ers did not have occasion to go. 



Distinguishing features: Upper parts pale bluish gray, the head 

 and neck lighter; lower parts light gray, with a brownish tinge; length 

 11-13 inches. 



486. AMERICAN RAVEN. Corvus corax sinuatus. 



The raven occurs regularly along the Missouri border, and also near 

 the other larger water-courses of the county, but its general distribution seems 

 to be quite local or variable. Dr. J. A. Allen reports that the raven was 



