290 Birds of Colorado 
below grey with a pale brownish tinge, becoming whiter on the throat 
and ear-coverts ; iris brown, bill and feet black. Length 11-0; wing 
6-20; tail 5-80; tarsus 1-30; culmen -85. 
The female is slightly smaller—wing 6:0; young birds have a pale 
grey crown. : 
Distribution.—The pine forests of the Canadian zone from eastern 
British Columbia to Arizona and New Mexico. 
In Colorado the White-headed Jay is a resident, only found at eleva- 
tions of from 8,000 feet to timber line (about 11,500), about the lower 
limit in winter and the upper in summer. It is fairly common where 
it occurs. It is recorded from the following counties : Boulder (Hender- 
son), Summit (Carter apud Brewer), Park (Allen), Lake (Scott), 
Huerfano (Baird & Lowe), Garfield (Warren 08), Mesa (Rockwell), 
Costilla (Henshaw), San Juan (Drew) and La Plata, where it is rare 
(Gilman). Occasionally after heavy storms it is driven down to lower 
levels: it has been seen by Aiken at Colorado City, and by Henderson 
in Boulder town on such occasions. 
Habits.—This Jay is often known as the Camp Bird 
or Camp Robber, from its familiarity with man and 
its fondness for scraps at miners’ cabins. It is an arrant 
thief, and so tame does it sometimes become that it will 
take food from the hand, Warren tells me (see Plate 12). 
It is also known as the Whiskey Jack, a corruption of 
an Indian word Wiss-ka-chon, applied to the eastern 
and typical form of the bird. 
The only recorded observations on the breeding habits 
of this bird are those of the late A. Carter of Brecken- 
ridge (Brewer 79). He found a nest on April 2nd near 
Breckenridge. It was placed forty feet from the ground 
on the horizontal limb of a pine tree ; the nest was con- 
structed of twigs and grass-stems, and scantily lined 
with down and feathers ; it contained three eggs slightly 
incubated. These were greyish-white in colour blotched 
with brown, and measured about 1:16 x ‘85. Gale 
found young birds in the nest twice, at 10,000 and 11,000 
feet, but never took the eggs. It is a very remarkable 
fact that a bird of the mountains should breed so early, 
