278 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



notes, and scorns to have one for evcvv oiiiotinn ov pnrsnit in which it 

 is engiijfed. It also has a <;i'eat fondness I'or imitating the notes oi' other 

 birds. J)r. Siickh'y states tliat I'rei^nently wlien ])leasaiitly excited by the 

 hojie of ol)taiiiiiig a rare bird, in coiisec^uenee of lieariiig an unknown note 

 issuing from some clump of bushes or tliieket, he luis been not a little dis- 

 ajijxiinted by finding that it had issued from tliis Jay. It niinncs accurately 

 the iiriucijial cry of the (Jatliird. 



1 )r. Coo])er also found it very common in all the forests on both sides of 

 the Cascudo ]\b)untains. While it seemeil to depend cliietly upon the forest 

 for its food, in the winter it would make visits to the vicinity of houses, and 

 steal anything eatable it could find within its reach, even potatoes. In 

 these forages n\)(m the gardens and farm-yards, they are both silent and 

 Avatchful, evidently conscious of the peril of their undertaking, and when 

 discovered they instantly Hy off to the concealment of the forests. They 

 also make visits to the Indian lodges when the owners .arc absent, and force 

 their way into them if possible, one of their number keeping watch, in the 

 forest tliey do not a])pear to lie sliy or timid, but bohlly follow those who 

 intrude upon their domain, screaming, and calling their companions around 

 them. Hazel-nuts are one of their great articles of winter food ; and Dr. 

 Cooper states that, in order to break the shell, the Jay resorts to the in- 

 genious expedient of taking them to a branch of a tree, fixing them in a 

 crotcli or cavity, and hammering them with its bill until it can reach the 

 meat within. Their nest he describes as large, loosely built of sticks, and 

 placed in a bush or low tree. 



At certain seasons of the year its food consisted almost entirely of the 

 seeds of the pine, ])articukuly of P. hrwln/pkra, which 1 )r. Newberry states he 

 has often seen them extracting from the cones, and Mith which the stomachs 

 of those he killed were usually filled. He found these birds ranging as far 

 nortli as the line of the liritish Territory, and from the coa.st to the Itockv 

 ^Idunfains. 



In his Western journey Mr. Xuttall met with these birds in the Blue Moun- 

 tains of tlie On^gon, east of Walla-walla. There he foiuid them scarce and 

 shy. Afterwards lie found tJiem abundant in tlie ])ine forests of the Columl)ia, 

 where their loud trumjjeting clangor was heard at all hours of the day, calling 

 out witli a loud \-oice, '//"//-'//",'/, or chattering with a variety of other notes, 

 some of them similar to those of the connnon Blue Jay. They are more 

 bold and familiar than our Jay. Watchful as a dog, no sooner does a 

 stranger show himself in their vichiity than they neglect all other emjiloy- 

 ment to come round him, following and sometimes scolding at him with great 

 pertinacity and signs of irritability. At other times, stimulated by curiosity, 

 they follow for a while in perfect silence, until sometliing seems to arouse 

 tlieir ire, and tlien their vociferous cries are poured out with unceasing volu- 

 bility till the intruder has ])assed from their view. 



In the month of Mav, Mr. Nuttall found a nest of these birds in a small 



