390 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



branches of pine, inclosing a closely impacted inner nest, composed of strongly 

 blended materials, stems of grasses, hempen fibers of plants, bark, down, 

 feathers, etc. The walls of the nest are 2 inches thick, and the inner nest is 

 warm and soft. 



''The measurements of the eggs before me are 1.19 by 0.86, 1.16 by 0.86, 

 and 1.10 by 0.86 inches, (or 30.22 by 21.84. 29.46 by 21.84, and 27.94 by 21.84 

 millimetres). Their ground color is a grayish white. In two the markings are 

 all grouped around the larger end, the residue of the surface being nearly 

 unmarked. In one the markings are well distributed over the entire egg - , 

 but larger and confluent at the rounded end. The markings are larger, more 

 confluent, and not so distinct and separate as in the eg'g-s of Perisoreus 

 canadensis, and are of a distinct shade of brown. While there is an absence 

 of slate and lilac, and while the markings are all of one color, there is a tinge 

 of purple shading- them all, and the blotches vary greatly, in the depth and 

 intensity of the shading, from very light, to a very deep color. The parent 

 accoinpanving the nest and egg's is a female." 1 



These egg's are now in the museum at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I 

 have had the opportunity of examining' them. As as they do not materially 

 differ from those of the preceding species, and as they are in a poor state of 

 preservation, I have not figured any. 



156. Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons Ridgwat. 



ALASKAN JAY. 



Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons Ridgwav, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, III, March 

 27, 1880, 5. 



(B — , C — . R 297b, C 360, D 4S4&.) 



Geographical range: Alaska, excepting the southern coast districts. 



Tliis subspecies is a resident and breeds wherever found. According to Mr. 

 L. M. Turner, the Alaskan or Smoky-fronted Jay is known as the "Sojah" to 

 the Russian-speaking' element of Alaska; he writes: "It rarely occurs in the 

 vicinity of St. Michaels. Two specimens were obtained at the Redoubt during 

 my tlnee and a half years' stay there. Along the Yukon River it. is abundant 

 and a permanent resident. The most of my specimens were obtained from Fort 

 Yukon, Nulato, and Anvick, on the Yukon River." 2 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, in speaking of the geographical range of the Alaskan Jay, 

 says: "Many specimens from the Upper Yukon are nearly typical Perisoreus 

 canadensis, but the present form gradually replaced it lower down this stream 

 until, near Nulato to the coast, birds approaching the canadensis style are almost 

 unknown. The present form is the onlv Perisoreus found throughout the Sitkan 

 and Kadiak region, thence north along the region bordering the Bering Sea 

 coast, and up the wooded interior. 



1 Bulletin of the Nnttall Ornithological Cluh, Vol. IV, 1S79, pp. 239. 240. 

 - Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska, No. II, 1886, p. 167. 



