I'he Birds of El Paso County, Colorado 341 



picking out the seeds from above. A pair noticed on the sum- 

 mit of Cheyenne Mountain in May, 1913, by Aiken, are 

 thought to have bred there. 



Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus. Pifion Jay. 



Resident; common locally. 



The Pifion Jays breed in the piiions and cedars, of which 

 there are but a comparatively small area in the County, laying 

 its eggs so early in the season that the young are out of the 

 nest by the first of May. Late in the summer and early in 

 the autumn they begin to wander about in flocks, often of many 

 individuals, reaching both higher and lower elevations than 

 their breeding range. Wetmore and Rockwell saw it at Palmer 

 Lake September 6, and Warren saw one on Bison Creek, near 

 Clyde, at 10,000 feet, September 8, 1911; extremely high for 

 this species. In winter it is now common at Austin's Bluffs, 

 near Colorado Springs, but thirty years ago it was very rare 

 there or not seen at all. The reason for this change may be 

 that in the early days there was no food for them about there, 

 and now there is considerable farming with corn and grain- 

 fields where food may be found. Occasionally flocks may 

 be seen flying over the city of Colorado Springs on their way 

 back and forth from their feeding grounds. 



Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Bobolink. 



Rare spring and summer visitor; no breeding records. 



Allen and Brewster state that "A single specimen was 

 brought to Mr. Aiken May 18, [1882], and another May 23; 

 two others reported as seen. But two specimens were pre- 

 viously known to Mr. Aiken as having been killed here." 



There is a male in the Aiken Collection taken hear Colo- 

 rado Springs, September 5, 1897. May 20, 1913, Warren saw 

 two males in Monument Valley Park, and one on the 21st 

 and 22nd. 



