426 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMEEIOAN BIRDS. 



lous "peeh, peeh," or "wliee, whee," is their common call note. While feeding 

 on the ground they keep np a constant chattering, which can be heard for quite 

 a distance, and in this way often betray their whereabouts. 



The nests are deep, bulky, and compactly built structures, measuring 

 about 10 inches in outer diameter by 7 inches in height; the cup of the nest is 

 about 4 inches in diameter by 3 inches in depth. Exteriorly the nests are con- 

 structed of pinon, sagebrush, or juniper twigs, and shreds of bark from the 

 same, while the inner lining consists of finer shreds of similar materials, plant 

 fibers, fine rootlets, and dry grass, all well woven together, the component parts 

 of the nest varying somewhat in different localities. The nests are usually 

 j)laced in forks or on horizontal limbs of piiion or jiiniper trees, generally from 

 5 to 12 feet from the gi'ound. They are rarely well hidden from view and 

 ordinarily can be seen for some distance. 



In the middle portions of their range nidification begins early in April and 

 possibly still earlier farther south, while to the northward and at higher altitiides 

 it is protracted until the first week in May. From three to five eggs are laid to 

 a set, those numbering four being most often found. Incubation lasts about 

 sixteen days. The Pinon Jays are close sitters and, like Clarke's Nutcracker, 

 are devoted parents. The young are able to leave the nest in about three 

 weeks, and may easily be distinguished by their somewhat duller plumbeous 

 blue color. They at once form in flocks and rove about from place to place in 

 search of food. 



The eggs of the Pinon Jay are quite variable in shape, ranging from ovate 

 and short ovate to elliptical ovate. The ground color is bluish-white, this being 

 covered all over with minute specks of different shades of brown, in some cases, 

 and larger spots and blotches in others, these being generally heaviest about the 

 larger end. An occasional set is blotched heavily enough to nearly hide 

 the ground color, but this appears to be rarely tlie case. The shell of these 

 eggs is close grained, finely granulated, slightly glossy, and much stronger than 

 that of the preceding species. 



The average measurement of twenty-five eggs in the United States National 

 Museum collection is 30.11 by 22.18 millimetres, or about 1.19 by 0.87 inches. 

 The largest egg measures 31.75 by 23.37 millimetres, or 1.25 by 0.92 inches; 

 the smallest, 26.92 by 22.10 millimetres, or 1.06 by 0.87 inches. 



The type specimens, Nos. 24712 and 25315 (PI. 3, Figs. 24 and 25), both 

 from sets of four eggs, from the Ralph collection, were taken near Fort Garland 

 and Canon City, Colorado, on May 10, 1879, and May 16, 1890, and represent 

 the lighter and darker colored phases found among the eggs of this species. 



