NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 259 



eggs of the California Jay, in which the markings stand out in strong 

 contrast. Ten eggs exhibit the following sizes: 1.02 x. 84, 1.06X.84, 

 1.10X.87, I. II X. 83, 1. 12 X. 82, 1. 15 X. 83, 1.14X.84, 1. 12 X. 83, 1. 18 X. 86, 

 i.i8x.86 ; one runt egg measures .76 x .60. 



477ff. Cyanocitta cristata florincola Coues. 



Florida Bine Jay. 



Hab. Florida. 



This is a smaller bird than the last, with less white on the tips of 

 the secondaries and tail-feathers. A set of four eggs in my cabinet 

 from Florida do not differ essentially from those of C. cristata^ having 

 the brown type of coloration for the ground-color. 



478. Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmkl.) [290.] 



Steller's Jay. 



Hab. Pacific coast, north to Sitka, south to Northern California. 



Steller's Jay is an abundant species along the Pacific coast from 

 Northern California northward. In Oregon it is a very common resi- 

 dent. He is the same bold, noisy fellow as is his eastern cousin, the 

 Blue Jay. 



The nest of this bird is built in firs and other trees, and in bushes, 

 ranging from eight to twenty-five feet from the ground ; it is very 

 bulky, and made of large sticks and twigs, generally with a supply of 

 mud, and a lining of fine, dry grasses and hair. The eggs, three to 

 five in number, are usually pale green or bluish-green, speckled with 

 olive-brown, with an average size of 1.28X.85. Mr. Norris has a set 

 of four eggs collected near Salem, Oregon, May 4, 1888. This set was 

 taken from a nest in a thorn bush, twelve feet from the ground. The 

 eggs are light bluish-green, spotted and sprinkled with clove-brown ; 

 the markings are heavier near the larger ends, where they form indis- 

 tinct circles. They offer the following dimensions: 1.25X.93, 1.22X.94, 

 1.19X.91, 1.23 X.92. 



478a. Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis (Ridgw.) [290a.] 



Blae-fronted Jay. 



Hab, Sierra Nevada range {both slopes) from Fort Crook to Fort Tejon. 



A common bird in the mountains of California, inhabiting the 

 whole length of the Sierra Nevada and also, it is said, the coast ranges. 

 Col. N. S. Goss found quite a number of nests of the Blue-fronted Jay 

 in the vicinity of Julian, California, in the spring of 1884, and " in all 

 cases but one, in holes and trough-like cavities in trees and stubs, 

 ranging from four to fifty feet from the ground, generally ten to twenty 

 feet. The nest found outside was built upon a large horizontal limb 

 of an oak close beside a gnarl, the sprout-like limbs of which thickly 

 covered the nest overhead, and almost hid it from view below." They 



