THE BLUE-FRONTED JAY. 367 



this subject: "While collecting birds and their eggs in company with my 

 brother, Capt. B. F. Gross, in the spring of 1884, in the vicinity of Julian, Cali- 

 fornia, we found a number of the nests of the Blue-fronted Jay, and in all cases 

 but one in holes and trough-like cavities in trees and stubs, ranging from 4 to 50 

 feet from the ground, generally 10 to 20 feet up." 1 



Since the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad over the Sierra Nevadas 

 many of the Jays nest in the extensive snowsheds found along the line of this 

 road, and numbers of their nests are yearly torn down by the railroad employees; 

 but this does not appear to discourage them, as they continue to build new nests 

 in similar localities. Besides the trees and shrubs already mentioned as being 

 used for nesting sites by this subspecies, it also builds occasionally in sycamores 

 and willow thickets, although firs, cedars, and pines are most often used. Birds 

 breeding in the higher mountains retire in the late fall to lower altitudes, win- 

 tering usually in the foothills, from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level. 



The nests are similar in size and construction to those of Steller's Jay, and 

 the same description will answer for both. Occasionally one is lined with pine 

 needles in lieu of rootlets. Nidification commences sometimes in the latter part 

 of April, more frequently in May, and now and then it is delayed into June. 

 The number of eggs to a set varies from three to five, sets of four being most 

 common. An egg is deposited daily, and incubation lasts about sixteen days. 

 The male assists in these duties, and usually but one brood is raised in a season. 

 The eggs resemble those of Steller's Jay, in shape, ground color, and markings, 

 but they average a trifle smaller, and the same description will answer for them. 



The average measurement of forty-eight eggs in the United States National 

 Museum collection is 30.22 by 22.61 millimetres, or 1.19 by 0.89 inches. The 

 largest egg of the series measures 34.04 by 23.88 millimetres, or 1.34 by 0.94 

 inches; the smallest, 28.19 by 22.35 millimetres, or 1.11 by 0.88 inches. 



The type specimen, No. 24964 (PI. 5, Fig. 10), Ralph collection, from a set 

 of four eggs taken near Santa Cruz, California, on April 30, 1876, represents 

 one of the lighter-colored types of the series. 



143. Cyanocitta stelleri macrolopha (Baird). 



LONG-CRESTED JAY. 



Cyanocitta macrolopha Baird, Proceedings Academy Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, June, 



1854, 118. 

 Cyanocitta stelleri macrolopha Coues, Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, V, April, 



1880, 9S. 



(B 436, C 235a, R 2906, 290c, C 352, TT 4786.) 



Geographical range: Southern Rocky Mountains ; north to southern Wyoming; 

 west to the Uintah Mountains, in eastern Utah, and the higher ranges of northwestern 

 Arizona; south to northern Mexico. 



The Long-crested Jay is a resident of the southern Rocky Mountain 

 regions and breeds wherever found. Mr. F. Stephens reports it as common 

 among the pine forests of the Chiricahua Mountains, in southern Arizona. 



' The Auk, Vol. II, 1885, p. 217. 



