STELLBR 'S JA Y. 323 



spot concluded to crawl into his hole. The Jays lunged furiously at their enemy, who 

 sat helpless, bewildered by the sudden onslaught, trying to look as big as possible, with 

 his wings set for bucklers and his bill snapping; meanwhile twisting his head till I 

 thought he would wring it off, trying to look all ways at once. The Jays, emboldened 

 by partial success, grew more impudent, till their victim made a break through their 

 ranks and flapped into the heart of a neighboring juniper, hoping to be protected by the 

 tough, thick foliage. The Jays went trooping after, and I hardly know how the fight 

 would have ended had I not thought it time to take a hand in the game myself I 

 secured the Owl first, it being the interesting Pygmy Owl, and then shot four of the 

 Jays before they made up their minds to be off. The collector has no better chance to 

 •enrich his cabinet than when the birds are quarreling, and so it has been with the third 

 party in a difficulty, ever since the monkey divided cheese for the two cats. 



"It is difficult to describe the notes of this Jay, he is such a garrulous creature, 

 and has such a variety of outcries. He ordinarily screams at the top of his voice, until 

 he is tired or something attracts his attention. This cry is something like that of a 

 Blue Jay, but hoarser and heavier ; its base quality distinguishes it in a moment from 

 the harsh outcry of either Woodhouse's or Maximilian's Jay, both of which birds run 

 higher up the scale. He has also a call sounding like the rataplan of a Flicker ; and 

 again, when greedily regaling on acorns, or hopping aimlessly about, or peering curiously 

 down through the pine fronds to watch a suspicious character, he talks to himself in 

 a queer way, as if thinking aloud, and chuckling over some comical notions of his own. 

 Such loquacit3'^ has given a good name (Garralinas) to the whole tribe of Jays. 



"The Long-crested Jay will eat anything eatable. It is said Jays kill and devour 

 small birds, and doubtless they do so on occasion, though I do not think it is habitual 

 with them. They suck eggs, despoiling many a pretty nest; and if they cannot Catch 

 winged insects, fat larvae and beetles do not come amiss ; but after all, they are prin- 

 cipally vegetarians, feeding mainly upon seeds, hard fruits, and berries. In the mountains 

 where the Long-crested Jay lives, pine-seeds afford most of its fare. I have often watched 

 the bird hammering away at a pine-cone, which he would sometimes wedge in A crotch, 

 and sometimes hold under his feet. Though most at home in the pineries, where this 

 particular source of supply is unfailing, he often strays into the adjoining oak openings, 

 and into juniper patches, after acorns or berries, or to pick a quarrel with Woodhouse's 

 Jay and frighten the Sparrows. Wherever he goes he has it pretty much his own way, 

 hated and feared by the other birds, whom he silences with a scream and subdues by a 

 show of authority. But who of his kind has not enemies ? Cassin's Flycatcher, almost 

 as noisy and audacious, has many a set-to with him, and even the nimble little Wood 

 Pewees pester him sometimes. The Woodpeckers tease him persistently ; they can scramble 

 about faster than he can follow, and laugh at him from the other side of a bough, till 

 he quite loses his temper. But after all our Jay has his good points, and I confess to a 

 sneaking sort of regard for him. An elegant, dashing fellow, of good presence if not 

 good manners ; a tough, wiry, independent creature, Avith sense enough to take precious 

 good care of himself, as any one who wants his skin will discover. As one approaches 

 the tall pine where he is rollicking, his restless, bright brown eye marks the suspicious 

 object. Nqw 9n th? ^lert, he leaps like a sc|uirrel frQm bough to bough, till he reaches 



