366 LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



racket. On one occasion while walking up a canyon I saw a couple of Warblers 

 darting at one of these Jays, which seemed much afraid of them. He would try 

 to get on the under side of the limb he was on, dodge his head, call for help, 

 and sometimes strike at them. Several times while taking their eggs I have 

 seen these birds pecking viciously at the limb they were on, like a Woodpecker, 

 evidently venting their spite in this manner. One of their call notes sounds like 

 'chuck, chuck,' another like 'k^-lup, k^-lup,' varied to ' que-quer-que ' occasionally, 

 and a note of distress or anger sounds like 'ca-rack, ca-rack.'" 



Mr. F. Stephens informs me that they are fond of acorns, and give the 

 California Woodpeckers considerable employment in chasing them away from 

 their supplies stored away in the bark of the pines. 



Mr. Charles A. Allen, of Nicasio, California, says: "The notes of the Blue- 

 fronted Jay are variable, at times harsh and rasping, and again very soft and 

 melodious. They will imitate the call of the Western Red-tailed Hawk so per- 

 fectly that I have many times been almost deceived by them. I have satisfied 

 myself beyond dispute that they are wonderfully sweet songsters. Many times 

 I have seen them sitting alone in the shade of thick redwood trees singing as 

 sweetly as any bird I ever heard. I presume the male bird is the songster; I 

 have never shot one at such a time to find out; it always appeared to me as 

 though the bird retired to the solitude of the heavy redwood forests to enjoy 

 his solo undisturbed." 



Like Steller's Jay, they are omnivorous, living indiscriminately on both 

 animal and vegetable matter, while acorns, as well as pine seeds, form no incon- 

 siderable part of their food- Like other members of this family, they are very 

 destructive to the young and eggs of smaller birds; but they also have their 

 enemies. 



Among some manuscript notes kindly loaned me by Mr. L. Belding I find 

 the following item: 



"At Big Trees, Calaveras County, Califoi'nia, May 30, 1879, I found a nest 

 of this bird in a cluster of small cedars, about 6 feet from the ground. It was 

 composed of sticks, mixed with mud and leaves, and lined with pine needles. It 

 contained young birds about a week old. Three days afterwards, having shot 

 a Cooper's Hawk not far from this nest, and noticing that it had recently made 

 a meal of young Jays, I repaired to the place, and, as I had conjectured, found 

 they were missing. When I remernbered the annoyance these Jays had caused 

 the small birds in their neighborhood, I felt that they merited the loss of their 

 offspring. The Blue-fronted Jay is credited with giving deer and other game 

 notice of the hunter's approach (and doubtless this is correct as far as deer are 

 concerned), often following them with its characteristic cries, and I have on sev- 

 eral occasions been notified by them of the presence and approach of deer, and 

 once found, through the instrumentality of Jays, one of these animals which I 

 had wounded." 



The Blue-fronted Jay, in some portions of its range, shows a predilection for 

 nesting in natural cavities in trees and stubs, which is a radical departure from 

 its ordinary mode of nesting. The late Col. N. S. Goss wrote as follows on 



