220 APIIELOCOMA FLORIDAXA VAR. WOODHOUSEI. 



I judge it remains to be detected somewhere further north still, along 

 the mouutaius. It is very abuudant in the upper parts of Arizona, 

 where I saw it almost daily for two years. It may be called the charac- 

 teristic species of the subfamily in this region; for, although Maxi- 

 milian's and Steller's Jays are equally abundant, Woodhoase's is the 

 more widely and equally distributed in all sorts of places, with the 

 exception, perhaps, of the recesses of pine woods, which are generally 

 relinquished in favor of the crested species. Its preference, however, 

 is for oak openings, rough, broken hill-sides, covered with patches of 

 juniper, manzaQita, and yuccas, brushy ravines and wooded creek-bot- 

 toms. The ordinary note is a harsh scream, indefinitely repeated with 

 varying tone and measure ; it is quite noticeably difierent from that of 

 either Maximilian's or Steller's, having a sharp, wiry quality lacking in 

 these. It is always uttered when the bird is angry or alarmed, and 

 consequently is oftener heard by the naturalist ; but there are several 

 other notes. If the bird is disporting with his fellows, or leisurely pick- 

 ing acorns, he has a variety of odd chuckling or chattering syllables, 

 corresponding to the absurd talk of our Blue Jay under the same cir- 

 cumstances. Sometimes again, in the spring-time, when snugly hidden 

 in the heart of a cedar bush with his mate, whom he has coaxed to keep 

 him comi)any, he modulates his harsh voice with surprising softness to 

 express his gallant intention ; and if one is standing quite near, unob- 

 served, he will hear the blandishments whispered and cooed almost as 

 softly as a Dove's. The change, when the busy pair find they are dis- 

 covered, to the ordinary scream, uttered by wooer and wooed together, 

 is startling. 



The food is varied, as with all birds of this family; but acorns 

 seem a favorite article of diet. To procure them with the least 

 trouble, the bird sometimes robs the store that the Californian Wood- 

 pecker has stuck in the bark of trees. The flight of the bird is firm 

 and direct. When going far, and high over head, in flocks, the wiug- 

 beats are regular and continuous ; among trees and bushes, the short 

 flights are more dashing and unsteady, performed with a vigorous flap 

 or two and a sailing with widely-spread wings and tail. The tail is 

 often jerked in the shorter flights, especially those of ascent or the re- 

 verse, and its frequent motion, when the bird is not flying, is like that 

 seen in Pipilo or Mbinis. Among the branches the bird moves with agile 

 hops, like all true Jays, and its movements when on the ground have 

 the same buoyant ease; it never walks, like Maximilian's and other 

 Crows. I never succeeded in finding a nest; it is to be presumed that 

 its nidiflcation and eggs are much the same as those of the California 

 variety. According to Dr. Cooper, the latter builds " a large and strong 

 nest of twigs, roots, grass, &c., in a low tree or bush, and lays about 

 five eggs, dark-green, wiih numerous pale-brown blotches and spots." 

 He found eggs laid at San Diego about the 5th of April. 



Since the preceding paragraph was written, the surmise has been 

 verified. Mr. Aiken, who found the bird a common resident in South- 

 eastern Wyoming, sa.vs: "Nest composed outwardly of dead twigs, 

 then of fine roots, and lined with fine rootlets or horse-hair. The eggs, 

 four or five in number, are laid about ilay 1. They are of a light bluish- 

 green color, and with the reddish-brown specks thickest at the large 

 end. Their average length is 1.06 inches; breadth, 0.80 inch." The 

 egg of Afheloccma, of which numerous examples are before us, is dis- 

 tinguishable from that of Gyanurus, in most cases, by its richer, deeper 

 green ground, and much bolder marking of heavy spots, especially 

 large, numerous, and heavily colored about the great end. 

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