424 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



167. Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus (Wied). 



PINON JAY. 



Gymnorhimis cyanocephalus Wied, Reise in das iimere Nord Ainerika, II, 1841, 21. 

 Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus St ejneger, Auk, 1, 1S84, 230. 



(B 431, C 231, R 285, C 345, U 492.) 



Geographical range: The plateau regions of western North Amerika; from the 

 Rocky Mountains west to the Pacific Coast ranges; north to southern British Columbia; 

 south to northwestern Texas, Lower California, and northern Mexico; casually to Kansas 

 and Nebraska. 



The Pifion Jay, locally known also as " Nutcracker, " "Maximilian's Jay," 

 "Bine Crow," and as " Pinonario " by the Mexicans, is rather a common resident 

 in suitable localities throughout the southern portions of its range, while in the 

 northern parts it is only a summer visitor, migrating regularly. It is most 

 abundantly found throughout the pifion and cedar-covered foothills abounding 

 between the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the eastern bases of 

 the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges in California, Nevada, and Oregon. 



It is an eminently sociable species at all times, even during the breeding 

 season, and is usually seen in large, compact flocks, moving about from place to 

 place in search of feeding grounds, being on the whole rather restless and erratic 

 in its movements; you may meet with thousands in a place to-day and perhaps 

 to-morrow you will fail to see a single one. It is rarely met with at altitudes 

 of over 9,000 feet in summer, and scarcely ever in the higher coniferous forests; 

 its favorite haunts are the pinon-covered foothills of the minor mountain 

 regions, the sweet and very palatable seeds of these trees furnishing its favor- 

 ite food during a considerable portion of the year. In the summer they feed 

 largely on insects of all kinds, especially grasshoppers, and are quite expert in 

 catching these on the wing; cedar and juniper berries, small seeds of various 

 kinds, and different species of wild berries also enter largely into their bill of 

 fare. A great deal of time is spent on the ground, where they move along in 

 compact bodies while feeding, much in the manner of Blackbirds, the rearmost 

 birds rising from time to time, flying over the flock and alighting again in front 

 of the main body; they are rather shy and alert when engaged in feeding. I 

 followed a flock numbering several thousands which was feeding in the open 

 pine forest bordering the Klamath Valley, Oregon, for more than half a mile, 

 trying to get a shot at some of them, but in this I was unsuccessful. They would 

 not allow me to get within range, and finally they became alarmed, took wing, 

 and flew out of sight down the valley. On the next day, September 18, 1882, 

 I saw a still larger flock, which revealed its presence by the noise made; these 

 I headed off, and awaited their approach in a dense clump of small pines in 

 which I had hidden; I had not long to wait, and easily secured several speci- 

 mens. On April 4, 1883, I saw another large flock feeding in the open woods, 



