WOODHOUSE'S JAY. 



Aphelocotaa woodbousei Ridgway. 



This species is distributed over the mountainous regions of the West, from New 

 Mexico and Arizona north to Colorado, Utah. Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, and eastern 

 Arizona. 



"It is very abundant in the upper parts of Arizona," writes Dr. Elliott Coues, 

 "where I saw it almost daily for two years. It may be called the characteristic species 

 of the subfamily in this region; for, although Maximilian's and Steller's Jays are equally 

 abundant, Woodhouse's is the more widely and equally distributed in all sorts of places, 

 with the exception, perhaps, of the recesses of pine woods, which are generally relin- 

 quished in favor of the crested species. Its preference, however, is for oak openings, 

 rough, broken hill-sides, covered with patches of juniper, manzaiiita, arid yuccas, brushy 

 ravines and w^ooded creek-bottoms. The ordinary note is a harsh scream, indefinitely 

 repeated with varying tone and measure; it is quite noticeably different from that of 

 either Maximilian's or Steller's, having a sharp, w^iry quality lacking in these. It is 

 always uttered when the bird is angry or alarmed, and consequently is oftener heard 

 by the naturalist ; but there are several other notes. If the bird is disporting w^ith his 

 fellows, or leisurely picking acorns, he has a variety of odd chuckling or chattering 

 syllables, corresponding to the absurd talk of our Blue Jay under the same circumstances. 

 Sometimes again, in the spring time, when snugly hidden in the heart of a cedar bush 

 with his mate, w^hom he has coaxed to keep him company, he modulates his harsh voice 

 with surprising softness to express his gallant intention; and if one is standing quite 

 near, unobserved, he will hear the blandishments whispered and cooed almost as softly 

 as a Dove's. The change, w^hen the busy pair find they are discovered, to the ordinary 

 scream, uttered by w^ooer and w^ooed together, is startling." 



Mr. Aiken, who found the bird a common resident in south-eastern Wyoming, 



says: "Nest composed outwardly of dead twigs, then of fine roots, and lined with fine 



rootlets or horse hair. The eggs, four or five in number, are laid about May 1. They 



are of a light bluish-green color, and with the reddish-brown specks thickest at the 



large end." 



DESCRIPTION : "Forehead and nasal tnfts, bright blue like crown. Lower tail-coverts, bright blue, markedly 

 diJBFerent from color of belly. Back and scapulars, dull slaty-grayish, tinged with blue; breast, sides, 

 and flanks, light ash-gray ; blue of upper parts, etc., a light dull azure-blue. 



"Length, 11.50 to 13.75 inches; wing, 5.02; tail, 5.68 inches." (Ridgway, "Manual," p. 355.) 



CALIFORNIA JAY. 



Apbelocowa californica Cabanis. 



This Jay ranges from southern California to Oregon and western Nevada. yProf. 

 Robert Ridgway speaks of it as the Valley Jay of California, having been observed by 

 him in abundance only among the oaks of the Sacramento valley, the brushwood of the 

 ravines, and the scattered pines of the foot-hills along the western base of the Sierra 

 Nevada. It was quite common, in April, in the vicinity of Carson City, where he found 

 it breeding. Its notes and manners, he adds, are very similar to those of Woodhouse's 



