Woodhouse-Jay. 287 
During the winter it is very common along the foothills and perhaps 
up to 10,000 feet; during the summer the bulk of the birds go up into 
the mountains, breeding chiefly between 7,000 and 9,000 feet, more 
rarely to timber line. 
Habits.—This Jay is one of the handsomest and most 
conspicuous birds in Colorado: the bright sun glancing 
on his blue wings and tail and his constantly moving 
crest, together with his harsh, querulous and scolding 
note, easily attract attention. Seldom found far away 
from the pine forest, his food consists largely of seeds 
of conifers, though he will often be found near human 
habitations in order to pick up any stray scraps, 
especially in winter. Like most of the family, the Jay 
is intelligent and crafty ; he has been seen storing heads 
of grain in trees for future use, and is known to persecute 
smaller birds, and to steal and suck their eggs. 
The Long-crested Jay breeds rather early ; eggs are 
generally laid in May at lower levels; Dennis Gale 
found four fresh eggs as early as April 23rd, at Gold Hill, 
near Boulder. The nest though bulky is difficult to 
find; it is made largely of small twigs plastered with 
mud, and lined with fine rootlets, and is not as a rule 
placed very high up, generally in a bushy pine. The eggs, 
three to six in number, are pale blue spotted and blotched 
with brown ; they measure 1:22 x ‘88. 
Genus APHELOCOMA. 
Bill rather slender, nasal plumes not well developed, barely 
concealing the nostrils; no crest; wings longer or shorter than 
the tail (shorter in the Colorado species); tail slightly rounded; 
prevailing colour blue. 
This genus is found through the western half of the United States 
southwards to Guatemala; also in Florida. Out of nine species and 
nineteen subspecies, only one is met with in Colorado. 
Woodhouse-Jay. Aphelocoma woodhousei. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 480—Colorado Records—Allen 72, p. 150; Aiken 
72, p. 205; Henshaw 75, p. 337; Drew 81, p. 140; Allen & Brewster 
