THE BLUE JAY. 3gj 



The type specimen, No. 20372 (PI. 5, Fig. 5), Bendire collection, from a 

 set of three eggs, taken June 11, 1876, near Muscatine, Iowa, and No. 25883 

 (PI. 5, Fig. 6), Ralph collection, from a set of five eggs, taken by Dr. William 

 L. Ralph, near Floyd, Oneida County, New York, represent the two prevailing- 

 types of coloration of the eggs of this species. 



140. Cyanocitta cristata florincola Coues. 



FLORIDA BLUE JAY. 



Cyanocitta cristata florincola Coues, Key, ed. 2, 1884, 421. 



(B — , C — E — , C — , IT 477a.) 



Geographical range: Florida and the Gulf coast to southeastern Texas; casually 

 to southwestern Texas (Bexar County). 



The Florida Blue Jay is a slightly smaller bird than its northern relative, 

 and is a common resident in certain localities, breeding throughout its range. 

 It is somewhat duller in plumage than the latter, the white on the tips of the 

 secondaries and tail feathers being more restricted. It has been taken in south- 

 ern Louisiana, and the late Mr. Charles W. Beckham found it at Leon Springs, 

 some 20 miles northwest of San Antonio, in March, 1887, this being the most 

 westerly record for this subspecies. It is evidently rare in that vicinity, as Mr. 

 H. P. Attwater does not give it in his list of birds observed in the vicinity of 

 San Antonio, Texas. 



It is quite common in many parts of Florida, and Dr. William L. Ralph 

 has taken several nests and eggs in the neighborhood of San Mateo, Florida. 

 He tells me that its general habits are similar to those of the Blue Jay, and 

 one of its favorite foods here is the seed of the cabbage palmetto. Where 

 not much molested it becomes even tamer and more familiar than its north- 

 ern relative, and breeds like it in the vicinity of houses, among the orange 

 groves. Two nests found by Dr. Ralph were placed in low, flat pine woods, 

 25 and 30 feet, respectively, from the ground; these were composed of twigs, 

 Spanish moss, pine needles, and pieces of cloth, and lined with fine roots. In 

 some of the nests the materials were cemented together with mud. A third 

 nest was placed in an orange tree standing within a few feet of a house, near 

 the banks of the St. John's River, about 20 feet from the ground; it was com- 

 posed of twigs, catkins, plant fibers, weeds, grasses, pieces of string, and a 

 little Spanish moss, and these materials were cemented together with mud; the 

 lining consisted entirely of wire grass (Aristida). Another nest was placed 

 among some small branches at the end of a limb of an orange tree, about 11 feet 

 from the ground, and was composed of similar materials outwardly, but no mud 

 was used in its construction, and it was thickly lined with fine rootlets of the 

 orange tree. 



The average measurement of two nests is about 8 inches in outside diameter 

 by 4 inches in depth, the inner cup measuring about 4 inches in diameter by 1\ 

 inches in depth. 



