THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



Oregon Jay. 



(Perisoreus obscurus. ) 



This bird differs from the common jay, be- 

 ing darker and having a large top-not. It is a 

 very tame bird, but I have never found them 

 as tame as Mr. Davie mentions that Mr. A. 

 W. Anthony says he found them. He says : 

 * " Me characterizes it as a bird utterly de- 

 void of fear. While dressing deer in the 

 thick timber he has been almost covered 

 with these jays. They would light on his 

 back, head and shoulders, and there tug and 

 pull at eaeh loose shred of his coat, as if as- 

 sisting him in all ways possible." The Ore- 

 gon Jay is also a great mimic ; mocking the 

 crow almost to perfection. I have often 

 mistook them for crows and sometimes for 

 other birds, by the sounds they made. In 

 the winter they come to the valleys to stay; 

 but in the spring, off they go to the moun- 

 tains to raise their young; only a few re- 

 maining to breed. I have never found, but 

 one nest in the valley, which was in a fir 

 tree, about five feet from the ground. The 

 nest was placed close to the trunk, and was 

 almost as large as a crow's nest. It was 

 composed of twigs, feathers from itself, 

 hairs, etc. The. old bird was exceedingly 

 tame, letting me put my hand almost on her. 

 The nest contained three eggs, of a light 

 blue color, thickly covered with spots of 

 brown, mostly on the larger end. The eggs 

 measure about 1.03x75. It is very hard to 

 distinguish the male from the female, as they 

 look just alike a little way off. They live 

 mostly on acorns, corn, bugs, worms, eggs 

 and most any thing that they can steal that 

 is eatable. It has a large crest on its hea,d 

 of a dark blue color with a light blue line in 

 [ront, which it raises and lowers at pleasure. 

 [to be continued.] 



Vest and Eggs of N Am. Birds, Oliver Davie. 



IMPORTANT. 



A $35.00 NOTH E. — A person calling him- 

 self John L. Swenson, and hailing from dif- 

 ferent places in Iowa, Illinois and Mil 

 ta is an unmitigated fraud and honest collect- 

 ors are warned to beware of him. 



I will also state that this Swenson wrote 

 me in reply to an exchange notice, sometime 

 since, and he listed a lot of specimens I par- 

 ticularly desired, and I was foolish enough 

 to send him about 555 worth of eggs, and 

 have not heard a word in answer, though I 

 have written several times. Have written 

 to Postmaster at the place I sent eggs, and 

 the replv was — is not here. I have received 

 inquiries from several other parties 

 who sent him specimens, and got nothing in 

 return. Look Out For Him. 

 A. E. Price. 



Grant Park, 111. 



Another $21.00 Victim . 



"Birds of a feather generally flock to-geth- 

 ;r, but geese and ducks are found in divers 

 places. 



Mr. C, H. Prince, Dear Sir: — In the 

 February number of your Col. 1.1 

 MONTHLY 1 had an exchange notice and re- 

 ceived a letter from John L. Swenson. wish- 

 ing to make an exchange from Fairfax, Iowa, 

 and he gave me a very desirable list, so I 

 sent him S21 worth of eggs and mounted 

 birds, mostly eggs, and he promised to send 

 back by return mail and I have not heard a 

 word from him since he said he was going 

 to Alaska to collect this season, starting the 

 16th of March, so I think I shall not hear 

 from him again. I sent him some very fine 

 sets, as he wrote me very nice letters. I 

 took them all in. Can you give me any in- 

 formation in regard to the man ? 



A. E. KlBBE. 



We have lookec - all through and 



inquired, but fail to find his name, or get 

 any clue to his wherebouts. We are on the 

 lookout for others, whose names we with- 

 hold at present. — En. 



