3© PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA. fNo. 4 



distribution, favoring certain spots in certain canyons, where they can 

 usually be found, to the exclusion of other places presenting apparently 

 precisely similar conditions. On April 6, 1903, I scared several from 

 some oaks at the base of the mountains, and w^ith considerable difficulty 

 secured one. Possibly these w^ere migrating birds, as it was a place they 

 did not usually frequent; and the one secured, a female in very worn 

 plumage, was evidently not breeding, not even paired off in fact. On 

 July 22^, i(,02, 1 saw a fully fledged juvenile at an altitude of about 750Q 

 feet. I was not lable to secure it, for as I was resting by the side of the 

 trail it lit on a limb but a few feet away, and after a short inspection, left 

 rather abruptly, nor did I see it again. 



Aphelocoma sieberii arizonae Ridgway. Arizona Jay. 



Noisy, fussy and quarrelsome as all the jays are, I know of no other 

 species which possesses to such an eminent degree the quality of prying 

 into all manner of things which do not concern it, and of making such a 

 nuisance of itself in general, on the slightest provocation or on none at 

 all, as the Arizona Jay does. They are very gregarious, and even during 

 the breeding season may be seen travelling tlirough the oaks in flocks of 

 fifteen or twenty or more, ostensibly seeking for food, but also on the 

 lookout for trouble, or any excitement which might turn up. A collector 

 travelling through the woods gets his fair share of invectives, especially 

 if he is examining nests, shrieked from the tree tops at a safe distance, 

 to the accompaniment of bobbing heads and twitching tails; a Red-tail 

 or Swainson Hawk sitting on some limb, furnishes a little excitement 

 until he removes to some quiter locality; but the crowning joy of all is 

 to find some wretched fox or wild cat quietly ensconsed on some broad, 

 sheltered, oak limb. In such a case the one that finds the unhappy vic- 

 tim takes care to let every jay within half a mile know from his outcry 

 that there is some excitement on hand ; and it is nothing unusual to see 

 thirty or forty birds gathered about the object of their aversion, letting 

 him know in no undecided terms just what their opinion of him is. It is' 

 a curious sight also to see a dozen or more gathered around some large 

 snake, which they seem to fear nearly as much as they hate. On one 

 occasion I had an excellent opportunity of watching about twenty Ari- 

 zona Jays protesting at the presence of rather a large rattlesnake which 

 was leisurely travelling down a dry watercourse which passed our 

 camp. The jays seemed imbued with a wholesome fear of their wicked 

 looking antogonist, and though they surrounded it, kept at a respectful 

 distance.; they were not as noisy as they often are, but kept uttering low 

 querulous cries, quite different from their usual outbursts. Some of the 

 boldest lit a short distance from the snake and strutted before it in a 

 most curious fashion, head and body held bolt upright, and the tail 

 pressed down on the ground until about a third of it was dragging. A 

 bird we had in captivity for some time strutted about in the same comical 

 fashion whenever it was angered and wished to show fight. On many 

 occasions while out collecting, I have heard an outburst of jay's voices 

 drawing nearer and nearer, until presently a Cooper, or Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk, passed silently, like a ghost down the canyon ; while behind it a 

 straggling stream of jays trooped, anything but ghost-like, screaming 

 and clamoring, to the great detriment of the hawk's hunting, who re- 

 garded them, I have no doubt, with precisely the same feeling that most 

 of the deer hunters of this region have for the jays. Beside his vocal 

 outbursts, the Arizona Jav makes when flying a curious fluttering noise 

 with his wings, loud and distinct enough to be heard some little dis- 



