STELLER'S JAY. 363 



engaged. To hunt them successfully in the open takes l^otli time and patience. 

 Should you see one fl}'ing- into the lower parts of a bushy fir or spruce and think 

 you had yom- specimen located, before you could get within shooting distance 

 you might now and then catch a glimpse of him hopping up from limb to limb, 

 always keeping close to the trunk and moving up spirally, and by the time you 

 were close enough you would fail to find the bird where you expected, but 

 perhaps hear his harsh note of warning or derision from some other tree ahead. 

 They seem to delight in teasing the would-be collector in many ways. 



Like the Blue Jay, they are expert mimics, and I have been deceived by 

 them on more than one occasion; they can imitate to perfection the notes of all 

 the Raptores found within their range and seem to take pleasure in doing so, 

 probably to impose on the numerous small birds in their vicinity. They are 

 omnivorous, and while pine seeds undoubtedly form a considerable part of their 

 daily bill of fare during the winter months, scarcely anything edible comes 

 amiss. I have seen them, after eating their fill of kitchen refuse, carry off large 

 pieces of meat, bread, etc., hide them somewhere near, and come back at once 

 for more, keeping up their visits until nothing remained. Their strong feet are 

 used in grasping and holding the food, which is torn off in pieces suitable for 

 swallowing. On these foraging expeditions they are silent and constantly on the 

 lookout for danger. 



Their ordinary call notes are harsh and discordant, some resembling certain 

 of those of the Magpie, and others the querulous notes of the Red-breasted 

 Sapsucker, which they are especially fond of mimicking. A note frequently 

 heard while flying from one tree to another sounds like "querk, querk," some- 

 times rapidly repeated; another, while at rest in some bush}- thicket, resembles a 

 shrill whistle, like "twee-ish, twee-ish." In the early spring I have occasionally 

 heard one of these birds make a very fair attempt at singing, uttering a series 

 of low, musical, warbling notes, intermixed sometimes with a shrill whistle. 

 They are not as social as many other species of this family, and it is rare to see 

 more than a dozen together at any time, this occurring only in winter, when two 

 or three families may join together in a foraging expedition. 



In the southern parts of their range nest building begins late in March or 

 early in April, and correspondingly later northward. At Fort Klamath I noticed 

 them gathering nesting materials during the first week in April, and all the nests 

 I found there (five in number) were placed at the extremities of large horizontal 

 limbs of the highest pine trees, near water, generally from 40 to 50 feet from 

 the ground, and in positions practically inaccessible. The birds seemed to realize 

 this, and were not at all particular about hiding their nests, as the majority could 

 be easily seen from below. Usually they prefer bushy fir trees, which appear 

 to be their favorite nesting sites t]ir(_)ughout the greater part of their range; now 

 and then a vine, a maple, or a hawthorn bush is selected. 



Mr. A. W. Anthony writes me: "Steller's Jay is common about Beaverton, 

 Oregon. A nearly finished nest was discovered on March 31, in a fir sapling, 

 about 10 feet from the ground. The first egg was deposited on April 10, and 



