332 ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



ulcus notes, which, though somewhat jay-like, are yet peculiar to this bird. 

 They seem to slum the dense pine forests, and keep in the open, hilly 

 country, where they always are found among the pinons and cedars. 



A large flock of these birds were seen near Silver City, N. Mex., Octo- 

 ber, busily engaged on the ground feeding upon grass seeds. Those in the 

 rear kept flying up and alighting in the front rank, the whole flock thus 

 keeping in continual motion. Near Tulerosa, late in November, I found the 

 species an abundant one, and chiefly frequenting the pinicoline trees. Their 

 habits here, however, seemed to imply a scarcity of their favorite food, 

 which is the various seeds of the coniferous trees, for I saw a largo flock 

 engaged in catching insects on the wing, and in this novel occupation they 

 displayed no little dexterity. From the tops of the pine trees, they ascended 

 to a considerable height, when, hovering for an instant, they would snap up 

 an insect and return to near the former position, remain for a moment, and 

 again make an essay. 



The following account is from the pen of Mr. Aiken : "A curious 

 bird, bearing little resemblance to the jays proper, except in color, and in 

 some of its notes, but being closely allied to the crows in its actions and 

 many of its habits. Upon the ground, every motion is corvine, its stately 

 gait particularly ; but its flight is much like that of the robin, and when on 

 the trees engaged in extracting the pine cones, it mimics the Crossbill, lean- 

 ing far over and sometimes hanging feet upward in its efforts to reach its 

 food. They are at all times gregarious, but particularly so in autumn, when 

 several hundreds sometimes congregate together. To find these jays in the 

 larger forests would be as remarkable as to see them on the open plains ; 

 the pinon and cedar hills are the only places where they seem to be at home, 

 and one seldom finds them elsewhere. In fall and winter, the nuts of the 

 pinon and black pine form their principal food; and, in summer, they subsist 

 upon insects and various seeds. I have also known them when very 

 hungry to eat scraps of meat with great gusto. In early autumn, before 

 the frost has released the pine seeds from the cones, the birds are obliged 

 to extract them ; but, later in the season, the birds feed almost entirely upon 

 the ground. In the latter case, they are very noisy and restless; the rear 

 birds in the Hock continually rising and flying oxer the others to the front, 



