NORTE AMERICAN BIRDS. 



323 



fruits, among which grapes and blackberries predominate. The results of the 

 stomach examination show,] (1) that the Jay eats many noxious insects; (2) that its 

 habit of robbing the nests of other birds is much less common than has been as- 

 serted; and (3) that it does little harm to agriculture, since all but a small amount 

 of corn eaten is waste grain." 



477a. rLOBIDA BLUE JAT. Cyanocitta cristata fiorincold Coues. Geog. 

 Dist. — Florida. 



This is a smaller bird than the last, with less white on the tips of the second- 

 aries and tail-feathers. A set of four eggs in my cabinet from Florida do not differ 

 essentially from those of C. cristata, having the brown type of coloration for the 

 ground-color. 



478. STELLER'S JAT. Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmel.) 

 aorth to yitka, south to Northern California. 



Geog. Dist. — Pacific coast. 



Stealer's Jay and Nest (Cheney del.) 



Steller's Jay is an abundant species along the Pacific coast from Northern Cali- 

 fornia northward. In Oregon it is a very common resident. He is the same bold, 

 noisy fellow as is his eastern cousin, the Blue' Jay. The nest of this bird is built 

 in firs and other trees, and in bushes, ranging from eight to twenty-five feet from the 

 ground; it is very bulky, and made of large sticks and twigs, generally with a supply 

 of mud, and a lining of fine, dry grasses and hair. The eggs, three to five in number, 

 are usually pale green or bluish-green, speckled with olive-brown, with an average 

 size of 1.2SX.85. Mr. Norris has a set of four eggs collected near Salem, Oregon, 

 May 4, 1888. This set was taken from a nest in a thorn bush, twelve feet from the 



