CROWS AND JAYS 351 



rings out on the frosty morning air! It is a signal to his companions, 

 breakfasting in a near-by oak or chestnut, "Here, here, here's some fun!" 

 and the poor, blinking Owl he has discovered looks helplessly at the 

 blue-coated mob, whose uproar alone is terrifying. Suddenly there is 

 absolute silence; every Jay has disappeared. One of them has seen 

 you, and not until your silence reassures the band will they return to 

 the sport of teasing their victim. 



The Blue Jay is both a mimic and a ventriloquist. Besides an inex- 

 haustible stock of whistles and calls of his own/ he imitates the notes of 

 other species, notably those of the Red-shouldered, Red-tail, and Spar- 

 row Hawks. 



1908. CHAPMAN, F. M., Camps and Cruises, 5-14 (nesting). 



477a. C. c. florincola Coues. FLORIDA BLUE JAY. Similar to the 

 preceding species, but smaller, the upperparts somewhat grayer, the white 

 tips to the feathers narrower, those on the outer pair of tail-feathers generally 

 less than I'OO in length. L., 10'75; W., 5'15; T., 4'80; B., '96. 



Range. Florida. 



Nesting date, Archer, Fla., Apl. 4. 



Blue Jays in Florida are common inhabitants of towns with live- 

 oaks, and hop about the fences and gardens with all the domesticity 

 of the Robins on our lawns. It has always seemed to me that the Florida 

 birds were possessed of greater vocabularies than their northern 

 brethren. 



The MAGPIE (475. Pica pica hudsonia) inhabits western North America; 

 stragglers have been recorded from as far east as Montreal and Illinois. 



479. Aphelocoma cyanea (Vieill.}. FLORIDA JAY. Ads. Top 

 and sides of the head and neck, wings and tail, grayish blue; back pale 

 brownish gray; underparts dirty white, obscurely streaked on the throat and 

 breast; sides of the breast and faint breast-band grayish blue. L., 11*50; 

 W., 4'45; T., 5'40; B., '98. 



Range. Fla., local, chiefly along coasts, between lat. 27 and 30. 



Nest, of sticks and roots lined with weeds and rootlets, in trees and bushes. 

 Eggs, 4, olive-green spotted and blotched with black, 1*17 x '75 (Maynard). 

 Date, Lantana, Fla., Apl. 6. 



"The Florida Jays are noisy birds at all times, and the first intima- 

 tion which one receives of their presence is a harsh scream which is given 

 as a note of alarm. As they usually move in flocks, this cry is taken up 

 by others, and soon the scrub for many rods around will be resounding 

 with these peculiar sounds. When undisturbed they feed on the ground 

 or in bushes, but, upon the approach of an intruder, they will mount 

 the highest point available, where they remain until driven away. They 

 are not usually shy, and will allow one to approach them quite closely, 

 but when one or two are shot the survivors usually disappear. . . . 

 They will glide through the bushes with remarkable rapidity, never 

 once showing themselves, or, if they have an open space to cross, dart 

 over it, not in flocks, but singly, and, plunging into the next thicket, 

 they will at once be lost to view" (Maynard). 



